Getting to know my writing...

Getting a Tattoo

My family has always had a passion for Dominoes and is always playing the game. Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with rectangular “domino” tiles. Each domino is a rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with several spots or is blank. A year ago, my sister Adriana decided to get a tattoo of a domino with the numbers 2 and 5. The reason she chose those numbers is because they represent my family. My mom and dad are the two dots from one side of the domino and the other five dots represent Adriana María, Luis Rafael, Gabriel Ángel, Bibiana Isabel, and Miguel Andrés. My big sister Adriana has the tattoo and so does Gabriel. Soon, when Miguel turns 18, he will also have the tattoo. I got the tattoo yesterday, February 8. I went with my friends Maria Eugenia and Fernando. I was a little scared before getting the tattoo, I was scared that it was going to be painful, but it was not that bad. Having my friends by my side was really helpful because they talked to me and that helped me forget about the needle in my wrist. Getting the tattoo was fast and fun, after having the tattoo done, the artist explained to me how I should take care of the tattoo. Calling my parents and telling them about the tattoo was funny because they did not expect it. My mom and dad liked it and were happy about it. Therefore, getting a tattoo that represents my family has been a great decision.

Why Community Service is Important

Community Service has always been an important thing in my life. I always enjoy doing community service to help the ones in need. Back home, in Puerto Rico, I helped the community in so many different ways, starting with minor things like donations to major things like cleaning houses. My high school, Academia Maria Reina, had a community service club that reunited every Tuesday to plan a community service activity for next Saturday. At first, my friends from the club and I went to hospitals, dog adoption places, among others, to help; but then, we realized that people at the other side fo the island was the most in need. Therefore, my last yeards at Academia Maria Reina were filled with road trips to the Island to help those in need. Some places I visited were Yauco and San Sebastian. Yauco is a city and municipality in southwestern Puerto Rico, centered on the city of the same name. San Sebastian is a municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is spread over twenty-four wards and San Sebastián Pueblo. Both, Yauco and San Sebastián, are poor municipalities from Puerto Rico that are in need of help. Therefore, with community service, I feel more complete and happy. I enjoy community service and would definitely want to join a community service club at the University of Dayton.

Suffering Earthquakes

Puerto Rico, my home, has suffered many tragic moments in the last years. First, Hurricane Maria, then lack of water and food, storms, months without electricity, and now, a 6.6 earthquake. I can say that the scariest day of my life was January 7, at 4;24 am when everything started shaking. I remember each and every second of that night, I remember my mom screaming out my brothers and my name telling us to run out. I remember the barks of my dog, I remember running out as fast as I could even though everything was shaking and things were falling. I live on the north side of Puerto Rico, in San Juan. There, things felt rough, but it does not compare to what Puerto Ricans felt on the south side. People from the south are still without electricity and are in need of a home considering many houses got destroyed. I remember how after the big 6.6 earthquakes, many aftershocks started happening. Nowadays, aftershocks keep occurring, and Ada Monzon, Puerto Rico’s best. meteorologist stated that aftershocks can continue happening for as long as a year. It is sad and scary, I believe the hardest part is going to sleep, I remember that I could not sleep after the earthquake until I got here, to Dayton, Ohio. Having my family there scares me, but I believe they will be safe taking into consideration they are safe in my house and are following the steps meteorologist say that will keep families safe. Therefore, Puerto Rico, a small island, keeps suffering from aftershocks and hopefully, everything will go back to normality soon.

Last Semester’s blog overview

Last semester, I had the opportunity to write blogs each week about different topics. At first, it was a little hard coming up with a topic to write the 250-word daily blog, but then, I got used to it and used the blog to liberate stress. Some things I find I do well in the blog assignments is explaining the blog in a well written and detailed paragraph. For example, last semester I wrote a blog post about my family, and I think it was my best blog taking into consideration how I divided the sentences in an organized way, and how I talked about my family in a clear and organized way. Also, the words I chose to use for the blog post were words that had a deep meaning, therefore, I think I am really good at writing my weekly blogs. On the other hand, something I struggled with on the blog posts I wrote last semester, was deciding the tags for the blog post. I want to use different types of tags this semester. The use of the tags gives personality to the post itself because it helps to see what the post is about. Therefore, last semester’s blog posts helped me improve my writing skills and something I realized I’m good with is coming up with a topic and using the right words for the blog. I would like to keep improving my writing skills even more, and I truly believe this semsters blog post and writing activities will help me.

Therefore…

I remember the day that Professor Covington said to my English class that we were required to submit a blog post every Sunday. At first, I thought it was going to be really challenging, but I got used to it and enjoyed writing my 250word blog every Sunday. I liked that I had the opportunity to choose the topic I want for my post. At first, I wrote about my family, sports, friends, among others. Then, when I had more experience writing posts, I started writing about other things that are more interesting and challenging to write about. I believe the blog helped me improve my writing. I am not good at writing in English and it is really hard for me to express feelings through words. I believe I have gotten better with the blogs. I did not look forward to the blog post at first because I am not a big fan of writing, but it turned out to be a fun experience to enjoy. Also, I liked that I could include photos and tags for each and every post. It was a fun and creative way to improve my writing and to be more creative. The last few posts were a little hard because I did not know what to write about. My favorite post was the post about the Summer I traveled to Argentina. Therefore, I can say that the weekly blog posts every Sunday helped me as a writer, now I know many different synonyms for words and I am better in expressing my words.

My favorite artist – Bad Bunny.

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican Latin trap and reggaeton rapper. His music is often defined as the Latin trap and reggaeton. Bad Bunny is my favorite artist, his music is really catchy and fun to listen to. Bad Bunny names come from a picture he has when he was a kid. Bad Bunny was dressed as a rabbit and he started telling people to call him “Bad Bunny”. His first popular song was “Diles”, which was a hit. “Diles” was released in 2016 and ever since he has been known worldwide. Bad Bunny has released so many songs that have been hits. He managed to reach the top of Billboard’s Latin list with his song “Tu no vive así” with Arcángel. Bad Bunny not only sings with Latin Artists; he has released music with Drake, Cardi B, and Jenniffer Lopez. He is a great artist and has done many good things for kids fighting cancer. Puerto Rico suffered a hurricane and a few months ago suffered a tragedy with the ex-governor and for all these hard moments, Bad Bunny supported the citizens. He has done many big movements and he has traveled the world with his music. Therefore, Latin singer, Bad Bunny, is my favorite artist. He is humble and respectful, he also released a song called “Solo de mi”, which talks about abuse towards women and how it must end. Therefore, Benito is a great artist that has done many great things in the last three years.

My Roommate Experience

As soon as I decided to attend the University of Dayton I received an email to request a roommate for the Academic Year 2019-2020. I did not know anyone that was going to attend the University of Dayton so I decided to go random. In July 2019, I received an email from the university revealing my roommate for the academic year. The email contained my roommate’s name, email, and the room we were assigned to. I was assigned to live in Marycrest, which is the University of Dayton’s biggest freshmen hall. When my roommate contacted me through email I was really excited and started chatting with her. I got to know her and we were both thrilled to attend the University of Dayton. In August 2019, when we moved to the University, I got to see her and after the first few weeks, I knew things wouldn’t work out between us. She is really nice and sweet, but we have different personalities. After living with her for a month and a half, she decided to move to a singles room. I had a triple room for myself and absolutely loved it because my friends would come to visit me every time. The room had a lot of space and it was comfortable. A week ago I received an email from housing stating that I would receive a new roommate. The new roommate moved in a couple of days ago and we are getting along really well. Therefore, my roommate’s experience here at UD has been really adventurous, but I have liked it. Now, I am happy with the roommate I have and will continue to get to know her better.

Summer in Argentina

Last Summer my family, my best friend’s family, and I attended Argentina. Buenos Aires is Argentina’s big, cosmopolitan capital city. In Argentina, the winter season is in the Summer season for America. Visiting the capital was amazing and fun. The trip lasted 14 days and every day we did something fun. The first few days we visited Buenos Aires and the other days we visited Bariloche and Ushuaia. I believe the best part of the trip was the fact that I spent the trip with my family and best friend. The trip was extremely entertaining. We went skiing and four trackings in the snow. It was my first time seeing snow so I was extremely excited. I was prepared for the cold, but it was still really cold. When we first went skiing, it was a little challenging because it is something hard and complicated. For the second ski day, I had so much fun because I enjoyed the time I skied. Then in the time, we went four trackings in the snow, we divided ourselves into pairs so it was two persons per four-track. We went so fast and enjoyed every single second of it. While the four-track ran, the wind felt so powerful that I was freezing. Basically, my trip consisted of family time and best friend time. Touristing through Argentina has been the best trip of my life. I learned so much about Argentina and would definitely want to visit again. Having a family trip makes you so happy and is so good for you!

My Friends

When I came from Puerto Rico to Dayton, Ohio, I did not know much of the Puerto Ricans that were coming to the university. In the first few days in New Students Orientation, I got to meet the 13 freshmen that are from Puerto Rico. It’s been 3 months since we meet and we are so close already. The girls have become super close friends of mine, and so some of the boys too. Leeha, Ana, Estela, Pino, and Maru are five of the girls that are really close friends of mine. I met 3 of them here at the University of Dayton. I had already met the other two girls because they studied with me in high school. Jaime, Fernando, Jon, and Anthuan are the four boys which I’m really friends with. The four of them are so funny and so nice. Usually, when my friends and I are bored, we play board games or go for walks. Last Saturday we went to Brown Street and ate at a place called “Butter”. We had breakfast and had a blast there. Having close friends is something important every person should have. Friends make you feel happy and safe. The University of Dayton definitely has the best students. I have met so many people in the past 3 months and I love it. Also, I cannot wait for the remaining 2 months of this semester. I am super excited to go back home, but I also like staying here. Therefore, I have made so many good friends here at the University of Dayton.

Attending Turangalila

Turangalila is a large-scale piece of orchestral music by Olivier Messiaen that took place in the Schuster Center this past Saturday, October 19, 2019 at 8:00 pm. The event was not what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be more relaxed and chill music, but it was kind of intense, and I loved it. The sound of the piano was passionate. There was a total of 5 pianos, each of the pianos had a different sound and when the 5 of them played together, the sound was magical and extraordinary. While watching the symphony, I questioned myself the names of some instruments. I knew how they were called in Spanish, but not in English, so when it was over, I asked my Puerto Rican friend the name of the instruments and we googled them and got to learn more about these beautiful instruments. The Symphony expressed love, the lovely sounds of the instruments really make a great piece. I will definitely recommend everyone to attend Turangalila taking into consideration that it is something different that we do not see every day. I am not really interested in music and instruments, but this opportunity made me see that there is something more into music if you interpret correctly the sounds. Therefore, attending Turangalila was not what I expected, it was something magical and entertaining. I will definitely recommend the Symphony to the people I know. Also, reading the background of Olivier Messiaen, the composer really helps understand the music way better.