Love and Lust, by India

Love

Love.

What is love . . .

How does love make you feel . . .

Is love a one time thing . . .

Can love last a lifetime . . .

Is love something that last forever?

Lust

Lust.

What is Lust . . .

How does lust make you feel . . .

What is similar about lust and love . . .

What is different about lust and love . . .

Can lust control your life?

Graduation, by Jazmine

As I sit and think, my life has changed so much these past four years. Experience and experimenting, trying to find out who I am. As the days slowly slip by, the more I think about what's ahead of me. I wonder, “What will my future hold?” “Where and what will I be doing?” But, the answers to these questions are all in my hands. I may not be able to determine my future job or who will be in my life then, but I know I will be successful.

The moments I cherish most are the irreplaceable talks, laughs, smiles, and time well spent with friends, teachers, and mentors here at Orange High. I look back and I can laugh, cry, smile, and frown all at the same time. Learning to become a young woman and being able to help someone other than myself makes everything that I have experienced the past years, all worth it. To everyone who ever gave me advice, “thank you” because it meant a lot to me, and to everyone I’ve given advice to, I hope that it helped you. As of right now I don't know what my future will bring, but I can say that I am a strong and eager young woman, excited to see what’s in store for me.

"Class of 2010 this is our year, our chance to make a difference, our chance to show how much we have grown, our chance to stand not alone but together, 2010 forever!

What is Love, by Jazmine

LOVE: What is love? Who really knows? Love can be a sign or a way of showing affection. Love can be easy or it can be hard: it's easy to love your friends but hard to love your enemies. Love is something that we all share with many people whether it be family, friends, or mentors. Love has a strong meaning. It's something some people never find and some find it quicker than others. Love is something we all need for somebody. And I have found the meaning of love through family, friends, and mentors. The value of love grows to be more and more each day. I know what LOVE is, do you?

On Being Gay, by India

Umm, there's so much to say, I don't know where to start. So many people think that people shouldn't be gay. Well, I feel as if it shouldn't matter what anybody thinks about other people. I believe if you feel happy with yourself, then why should anyone else care? If boys are happy with boys who cares? And if girls are happy with girls, who cares? That's just how you feel about each other. I myself feel happy with girls, never had a thing for boys. Even when I dressed like a girl, I still liked girls. I've always felt comfortable around girls and can be myself. I feel as if people take the time out of their day to talk about and to criticize you, then they have no life or have anything else to do.

Mates - Friends, by Dianwen

I recalled the sky not crystal clear;

I recalled the repeating radio song every dawn;

I recalled the ever-lasting topics we chatted about;

I recalled the baggy uniform, the snacks from grocery, the endless homework.

I wish I could fight together with them,

shoulder to shoulder

but, I could not.

Their figures repeated again and again in the dream.

Waking up, what was left, however, were no more than vague memories and continued longing.

I thought I had escaped from the sea of bitterness, into a life of sunshine.

I thought losing some of attachment might give more back in exchange.

I thought busy days would kick away the memory of home,

but, I was wrong.

Why would I recall the days I had spent, while the bright future waits beyond?

I do not know,

but perhaps to bless you all, deeply from my heart:

from the other side of the ocean.

Thoughts on Cora Unashamed, by Leigh Ann

The movie Cora Unashamed was a very touching and heartwarming video. I would definitely recommend this movie because it shows how parents of that time tried to completely control their children's’ lives.  They would do whatever it took to have a perfect child, just like Mrs. Studavant did with her daughter Jessie.

To Mrs. Studavant it didn’t matter what Jessie wanted: it was all about what Mrs. Studavant wanted for her daughter. Cora Unashamed also gave a different perspective of how life was for younger people during that time, in the early 1900s. Many people with high places in society would often shape their family into the family they thought was an ideal one because they were scared they might be embarrassed by something that would damage their reputation.

Although slavery was over, this movie showed how some African Americans were tied to working as servants in people’s houses because that was almost the only way they could make enough money to support their family.

One thing that really stood out to me was that the movie showed how love has no color or race. Cora fell in love with a white man and they had a baby.  Although Willy was Greek, he and Jessie fell in love. It was Mrs. Studavant that came in between Willy and Jessie, not his ethnic background.

Review of Cora Unashamed, by Emily

The movie Cora Unashamed was about an African-American woman working for a wealthy white family, the Studevants. Cora has had a hard life. Her father passed away, her mother is sick, her baby’s daddy is gone and then, her only child dies. Cora still continues to work for the white family. They have a little girl named Jessie who could practically be Cora’s child.

The Studevant parents aren’t ever around or just don’t care. They didn’t want Jessie. Her freckles were “a problem.” When young Jessie meets the love of her life, he gets her pregnant and leaves town for a while. When he gets back Mrs. Studevant had closed down his family’s dairy shop and forces his family to leave town. She did this because she didn’t want her daughter dating a milk boy.

When her mother found out that Jessie was pregnant, she took her to Kansas City and forced her to get an illegal abortion. Jessie got very sick and died because of the infection from the abortion. The movie is very depressing. I would recommend the movie to girls over guys because of the fact it’s a mushy movie. But I liked it. 

Review of Cora Unashamed, by Veil

I would recommend the movie Cora Unashamed as a movie to watch because it shows you a lesson. You wouldn’t believe what people would do “back in the day.”

This movie shows how people are worthy of each other and caring. We also see how people are just unsatisfied when things do not go their way. I believe that Jesse’s mother was jealous of the relationship that she and Cora had.  Every time that something would happen, Jesse would rather tell Cora than her own mother.

Her mother was the type of parent who wanted Jesse to grow up like should would have liked to grew up. Her mother was very controlling of Jesse. I believed that her mom didn’t like her because the way she looked. Her dad was the only one who cared besides Cora, and her sister.

The movie shows you the true meaning of love and how far people are willing to go to prove it.

On the Film, Cora Unashamed, by Jordan

I would recommend the movie Cora Unashamed to everyone. The movie takes place in the early 1900s. In Cora Unashamed, Cora has a baby named Josephine. Cora’s daughter Josephine dies from whooping cough. 

Cora works for Mrs. Art Studevant. While she works for Mrs. Studevant, she grows closer to Jessie, Mrs. Studevant’s daughter.  

As Jessie grows up she falls in love with Willie Matsoulis who is Greek. Mrs. Studevant didn’t like the fact that Jessie was falling in love with a Greek. Jessie informs Cora that she is pregnant and wants her to tell her mother for her. 

Cora tells Mrs. Studevant that Jessie is two months pregnant, that she loves Willie, and wants to keep the baby She also tells her that Jessie wants to marry Willie. Mrs. Studevant doesn’t approve of this, so she lies to Jessie and tells her that they are going shopping, but instead she is taking her to get an illegal abortion.

When they return Jessie gets very ill, and Mrs. Studevant tells everyone it’s from something she ate. But Cora knows that it was from having the abortion. So she tells Mr. Studevant to call Dr. Siebels. Dr. Siebels discovers that Jessie is not going to get any better. Mrs. Studevant tries to do everything herself and not let Cora help.

Finally, Mr. Studevant tells Cora to stay with Jessie. The next morning, Cora reads to Jessie the same poem her boyfriend once read to her before he left. As Cora is telling Jessie the poem, Jessie dies. At Jessie’s funeral Cora tells everyone why she really died.

I would recommend this movie because it teaches you to think for yourself and not to let anyone tell you what you are going to do with your life.

Scenes Around Left Wing, by Dianwen

The idea of flying alone still fancied me, no matter how fussy it was to scurry with those stupid trunks behind me,

thanks to my first plane being delayed.

The second flight was from Beijing to New York.

I thought the plane should head straight towards the east;

however, we went northeast, passed over Russia,

crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska, then flew south across Canada,

and finally to New York. This is the shortest route.

Someone told me a smart way to figure it out:

if one end of a thread is pressed against Beijing on an

earth model while the other end on New York and stretched tightly,

then it shows exactly the trail above. Interesting, isn't?

I found it hard to fall asleep, so I walked up and down the cabin.

Twilight fell very soon. I found an emergency window seat in the corridor beside the left wing.

I draped the window and myself with a blanket to survey the dark sky.

The sky was extremely black; you can only tell the horizon from an invisible line which produced stars.

The stars were everywhere, glaring in different levels of brightness.

I had never seen stars showing off so crazily. It was just like diamonds sparkled on black velvet.

Night was unnaturally short. Dawn was arriving.

About one third of the passengers found it difficult to remain in their seats;

many looked outside as well. By the time I watched again, the last star had already disappeared, and the plane was flying over an icy ocean. For hours, everything beneath was large bright white ice, floating on a deep blue surface of different shapes, going slowly by. And the sky was slowly lightening. It seemed like an immense rainbow had flattened itself on the horizon.

We watched there for the sun to turn up. It was getting brighter and brighter,

and the plane kept heading east, until the sun was out of sight.

I wondered how pilots confront the dazzling sunlight.