Month: September 2018

Live

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Creative Writing

There are two types of people in the world:

Those who are alive,

And those who are living.

Those who simply go through their daily routine,

And those who make the most of each day

Those who don’t take chances because of the consequences that lay ahead,

And those who take the risks

Those who always comply with what the world wants,

And those who challenge others

Those who believe that the sky’s the limit

And those who believe that there is no limit

Those who try to be content with what life gives them,

And those who create their reality

Those who wish they lived at the end of their life

And those glad they were alive and living.

They lived life.

Light

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Humans of MLEC

“Well as you probably know, the kidneys are kinda like the filters of your body. My “filters” have scars on them. Some cells in my kidney have been killed and turned to scars. Protein keeps water in the blood vessels, but since my kidneys aren’t working correctly, I’m loosing all my protein . The water goes to my flesh causing me to be swollen.

It happened on the last week of school last school year… it was weird. Kinda just went numb. It’s like you don’t ever except bad stuff to happen to you, so when it does happen, you’re kind of just in shock.

We found out that my condition may have been caused by high anxiety levels. And during that school year I kept overthinking and freaking out over silly little things…It was a wake up call to change my lifestyle…

One of the things I always tell people about this experience is that I’m not sad that this happened to me. It wasn’t a punishment, it was a lesson. It’s made me feel a lot more grateful for little things in life like being able to breathe without pain.”

-Ana Castellanos, Freshman

Through her journey, Ana realized many things such as habits that she needed to change. She became more grateful and appreciated, she learned life lessons. In the midst of the darkness (her medical condition), Ana found her Light.

 

Perspective

by Rhobie Toussaint, posted in Experience

Image from: https://www.briansolis.com/2017/05/innovation-begins-shift-perspective/

When two people are in a disagreement, they’re each trying to prove their point. Two individuals can read the same story, but interpret it in two different ways. People don’t always see eye to eye on ideas and topics, but that’s simply because they have different perspectives. For a good amount of my life, I’ve been surrounded by people like me; people of the same race, same beliefs, and similar lifestyles. This made it easy to forget that there are others who aren’t like me.

It started when my fourth grade teacher told us she voted for John McCain and not Barack Obama for president. Majority of the class gaped at her, as to ask “how could you not vote for the man who could become the first black president of the United States?” My teacher shrugged and quickly mentioned how she liked McCain’s ideals/ platform more. I soon learned that she was a Republican, which at the time I knew little about. I never thought about different political views until then.

During the summer of 2015, I was playing a game of would you rather/this or that with someone I recently met. The options were “God” or “Big Bang Theory.” I replied with “God of course” but her response was “Big Bang.” She then explained her point of view, the fact that she’s an atheist and why. At that very moment, it dawned on me that she was one of many who didn’t believe in God or a higher power.

As I grew older, went to different places and met different people, I learned more about perspectives, which varied depending on the individual. I’ve met liberals, existentialists, people with big and small circles [of friends], those with conservative ideals, individuals with the “YOLO” mindset, people with different religions, people with no religion, and so forth. I may not always agree on someone’s take about a topic, but I listen to and respect it regardless. It’s interesting to see just how different we all are, how our life experiences and surroundings take part in shaping who we are and how we think. Listening to other’s perspectives keeps me open minded.

It’s also important to understand that just because you listen and consider the point of views of others, doesn’t mean you’ll lose yourself. It doesn’t mean that you can’t hold on to what you believe in. However listening to others’ point of view can remind you of how diverse we all are.

Perspectives vary.