The one and only Serena Clyde

I had the opportunity to interview Serena Clyde. Serena was born and raised in Oxnard, CA. She attended Sunkist elementary school. She did not like school; at age 6 she realized that spelling was not her strength so she figured out a way to get good grades on her spelling tests without stressing out about it. Serena would write in a small piece of paper the words that she had to study for the test, then she would put that piece of paper between her legs and when the teacher pronounced the word she would look down at her paper, without moving her head so she wouldn't get caught, and write the word correctly. Serena was able to trick the teachers for many years.
           

After elementary school, she attended E.O. Green junior high, and during those years she discovered her passion for music, she learned how to play the clarinet, and joined the marching band. And during her High School years she realized how fun math and science can be.

            Serena has been a student at Oxnard college since 1998. The reason why it's taking her so long to obtain her A.A. in Biology is because of her finances. Books and tuition are very expensive, but little by little she is reaching her goal. Serena said she enjoys studying at Oxnard college, she says it makes her feel calm, but she thinks the library needs some improvements, and a pool would be nice too.

            Serena does not consider herself a role model; I don't agree with her, she seems like a very optimistic person that does not give up easily. Her role model is her grandmother. Serena admires her grandmother’s determination and she especially admires her because she raised 5 children on a minimum wage.

            I asked Serena where she saw herself in five years; she said she will be traveling through Europe and Japan, and have a Biology degree.

I ♥ to TXT MSG

     Text messages are one of the most inexpensive and convenient ways that I have, to communicate with my family; they live in another country. And I spend too much money every month on phone calls. The last time I visited my parents, I taught them how to text. It wasn’t easy, it took my mom quite a while to get a hang of it, she kept forgetting where to go, or what to press to check her texts. My dad got it, right away. My sister complains about this, because now she never hears from them, she’ll just get a text. They feel like they are so cool, when I talk to them my dad says “I’ll text you later” I think it’s funny that, like the younger crowd, they have become addicted to texting.


     Teaching my parents how to send texts was a great idea. Now we are in communication 24/7. I send a text every morning to wish my parents, a nice day. They send me a text, during the day, to see how my day is going. We send texts at night, to wish each other a goodnight.

     Texting has helped me and my parents stay in constant communication without me ending with a huge phone bill at the end of every month. Texting my family does not compare anything to a phone call, but it’s better than nothing. I look forward to receiving a text message from them! 

Reality TV shows. You either love them or hate them!

         I started watching reality TV shows about 4 years ago. I remember being bored a Sunday night, and searching through the channels and seeing this girl driving on the 1 highway in her convertible, with pink luggage in the back seat; it was Lauren Conrad from the “The Hills.” I don’t understand why I was so amused about it, I don’t understand why I enjoyed watching someone else’s drama. But that was my beginning, then I got into “The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of New Jersey” and the list goes on and on…. I also confess to watching “the Jersey Shores” once in a while.
          Reality TV shows are a guilty pleasure for me, I feel that, by watching them, I am invading the reality TV stars privacy. But it’s not like they are not aware of the cameras right? Though I still think it’s wrong especially when they embarrass themselves, I feel so bad for those girls and guys too.
          I do believe that reality TV is, in some degree, harmful to our society especially the teenage crowd. Young people have the pressure of trying to “fit in.” What reality TV does is portray a lifestyle that does not really exist, for example, going out every night and getting super drunk, being with different people without any consequences, the TRUE reality is that there are consequences, like the abuse of alcohol, or drugs, pregnancies, or S.T.D’s but unfortunately this is not shown on these type of shows, so what do you think crosses these somewhat innocent minds?
          I remember listening to a conversation between my cousin and her daughter, a 12 year old; she was asking her mother if she could take her to the mall on the weekend, because she wanted a fake tan. I was in shock when I heard this. I couldn’t believe that this 12 year old wanted a tan. My cousin asked her why she wanted a tan; she said that in school people would make fun of her, because of her light skin tone, and that she had seen on TV (Real Housewives of Orange County) that a woman was getting a sprayed tan, and looked nice, so she wanted a tan. Reality TV does affect society.

          But not everything is bad and ugly, there are some good reality TV shows out there we just have to look, for example, “Cupcake wars, or The Next Food Network Star” those, I believe, are harmless reality TV shows, that entertain the viewers. To me it’s exciting to watch these people create marvelous and delicious (that’s what it looks like anyway) dishes, and try to convince a panel why they deserve to win, or to see them create the most awesome cupcakes ever, to me that is good reality TV.

           We shouldn’t let the drama that, The Jersey Shore guys, or the Teenage mom’s, bring along. We live in a society full of drama and stress anyway, why should we allow them to invade our homes?