Education personal history ebook by Enrique Gonzalez, former principal

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Personal History Wor...
Authored by Enrique Gonzalez
8.5" x 11.0" (21.59 x 27.94 cm)
Black & White on White paper
74 pages
ISBN-13: 9781502723765
ISBN-10: 150272376X
Personal
History
Workbook
Enrique Gonzalez
Prepared by Steve McCrea
BONUS:
“Twelve Global Skills”
and
“We Are All Salespeople”
TransformTeaching.org

TransformTeaching.org2
Copyright © 2014 by Enrique Gonzalez. The lists of questions from
StoryCorps.org appear here for “fair use” educational purposes.
ISBN-13: 978-1502723765
ISBN-10: 150272376X
You are encouraged to share your suggestions for more
projects. This is an abridged version of the Personal History
Workbook that Enrique’s students use at Highland Park High
School in Los Angeles.
The poster on the title page of the book comes from a series
of ten questions that appear in LeavingToLearn.org.
Part One
Personal History Workbook
Part Two
The Twelve Global Skills
Can we take the initiative? Can we begin something?
Can we handle our “automatic negative thoughts”?
Can we build our “resilience”?
Cab we build a global network?
Are we ready to work in the Global Economy?
Do we have contacts on the five continents?
Can we put thoughts in our heads by using quotations?
Part Three
We Are All Salespeople
Can we “pitch” a product or service?
What is Your Net Impact? What is your impact on the Internet?
We can get whatever we want if we help enough other people get what they
want. – Zig Ziglar
Personal History Project (inspired by Enrique Gonzalez) 3
A Letter to Students and Teachers
I invite students to jump into
this book and skip this page.
Just get started with a project.
This book was entered into a computer during the week of October 2.
Three questions have been haunting me since I visited
“Can you give me a project?”
“Can you find me a job?”
“Can you teach me Spanish?”
These questions are central to why I support the Big Picture Learning approach. The aim
is to make the high school experience personal to the student. Build the curriculum
around the interests of each student. The Personal Learning Plan for each student
should be unique.
I’ve spent at least ten hours a year talking by phone with Enrique Gonzalez since I met him
at Frida Kahlo High School in Los Angeles on October 24, 2009. It was an “open house”
evening and he gave me a tour of his school while a barbecue was in progress, welcoming
parents on the campus to get the report cards for their children’s work. I met students who
spoke clearly and confidently about where they once were (in gangs) and where they hoped
to go (university, music, armed services, private business). I saw then that I would need a
workbook to help guide me and my students to follow the path where these
confident students were walking.
Enrique has freely shared his techniques with me, which is why he is the lead author of this
collection of worksheets. The parts that follow Part One are initiatives that some students
might want to pursue after completing their Personal History Workbook.

Part 2 is the Global Skills or “seven
survival skills” that Harvard professor Tony
Wagner has written and spoken about.
Students are encouraged to spend some
time with “seven survival skills Tony
Wagner” (go ahead, do the search) and then
look at these topics:
Can we take the initiative? Can we
begin something?
Can we handle our “automatic negative
thoughts”?
Are we ready to work in the Global
Economy?
Do we have contacts on the five
continents?
Can we put thoughts in our heads by
using quotations?
If you are familiar with Daniel Amen’s
work, you will recognize some of the
concepts here, particularly “brain resilience” and “automatic negative thoughts.” Please
take time with Amen’s articles, which are listed as references to read before you tackle
some of the worksheets.
Part 3
Dan Pink is a board member of Big Picture Learning. I highly recommend his website
danpink.com and I hope these words will drive your attention toward his books. In the
schools where I work, I set up “Dan Pink Libraries” in classrooms with the hope that
students will turn to the pages 28-41 in AWNM and learn about Automation, Asia and
Abundance. His series of books since he quit writing speeches for Al Gore have a
common thread: how to prepare students for the global economy.
Free Agent Nation: We are all free agents. Even if we work at a job, we could benefit
if we have an entrepreneurial attitude. Each one of us is “unemployedable” – we can
become unemployed quickly.
A Whole New Mind (AWNM): What do you see when you look at the Fed Ed
logo? We can activate our RIGHT brains by using techniques that Dan Pink has shared
in this book, which is ten years old in 2015. The book was selected by Oprah Winfrey as a
book of the year. Why not spend five minutes with a copy?
Johnny Bunko: a manga (comic) story about a young college graduate who learns how
to take the initiative and “leave a mark.”
Drive: Pinks’ TED talk has over 9 million hits. There’s something to this idea that there
are three ways to motivate people after money fails to push people to achieve: autonomy,
mastery and purpose. See “RSA Animate Drive Dan Pink” and learn more.
To Sell Is Human. I fear selling. I don’t like to make “cold calls.” I see myself as a
failure in the realm of selling. I don’t want this fear to infect my students. Then I read
Pink’s book and realized that we teachers can do much if we move from the image of the
pressure sales technique of ABC (always be closing) to the Pink ABC of Attunement,
Buoyancy and Clarity.
I invite students to jump into this book and skip my yammering. Just get started with a
project.
I recommend the free list of projects that Matt Blazek has compiled at
www.TinyURL.com/MattBlazek and www.TinyURL.com/BlazekProjects
Your Net Impact
I have several references to “Your Impact on the Internet.” I encourage you to
recommend websites, Facebook accounts and videos that “deserve” more attention.
I’m preparing a companion book called tentatively Flip Your Speech: How to Get Your
Presentation into the Long-Term Memory of Your Audience. I expect that some of the
items that you read here have slipped into that effort, which you can read about at
www.TinyURL.com/LittkyMiamiSpanish.
The Power of CreateSpace
The ultimate goal of this book is to inspire you to interview an older person and ask
dozens of questions from the StoryCorps.org list of questions. Go ahead, record the
session and then transcribe what the older person said. Create a book.
Most of my books are incomplete when I send them to CreateSpace.com. I just want to
finish books, so I terminate the process of editing instead of letting the book mature.
Perhaps one of my students will ask to tweak and improve the next edition of this book.
Please send me your suggestions for the next edition.
Steve McCrea
Global Skills Instructor
VisualAndActive@gmail.com
Assembler of books on Createspace.com
Maintainer of the website YourNetImpact.com and YourNetEffect.com

Please do me a favor. Click on the following links:
www.TransformTeaching.org
www.TinyURL.com/FischlerPosters
www.TinyURL.com/DecemberMuseum
Then click on the videos that you see on those pages. Thank you.
Finally, subscribe to Dan Pink’s occasional email letter. It’s worth it.
http://www.danpink.com/contact/
At some schools,
there is a
“gateway”
project
called the
Personal History
Workbook.
Before leaving 10th
Grade, the students
complete an autobiography. They interview
their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts,
friends of their families. They ask, “What do
you remember about me when I was a young
child?”

The students write their memories.
And they become authors.
Yes, their books are
published on
Amazon.com. How cool.
Are you interested?
You can get points toward your grades in
APEX.
A personal history book
This project can take a good student about four weeks to
complete….
a) The magic in my name
F is for Fierce
R is for Reasonable
A is for Active
N is for Nice
C is for Considerate
I is for Intelligent
S is for Sympathetic to animals
b) Create a map of my ancestors
Where did my extended family come from? Where did they live and where do
they live now?
c) Family tree
The tree shows my parents, their brothers and sisters (my uncles and aunts), my
grandparents.
For ambitious students: Show the brothers and sisters of my grandparents so I
can see who my cousins and other relatives are.
For each person, put a sentence about their profession and where they live,
when they were born, etc.
d) Autobiography
Where I was born
Where I came from
Important events in my life
Where I went to school
A list of some of my friends and why I like them
e) Picture pages
Write at least two sentences about each photo (When, where, and why the photo
was taken, and how I was feeling)
Three photos about my past
Three photos about my present
Three photos about Tomorrow
What I hope to be in the future
f) The most inspirational person in my life
Write about the person. What inspires you about the person? What does the
person do? Tell a story that shows how important that person is in making you
who you are.

g) My personal firsts page
The first time I crossed a busy street
The first time I used a telephone
The first time I tried a new type of food
The first time I lost someone close to me
The first time I failed a test (and what I learned about myself)
The first time I won a race
The first time I lost a race
The first time I was hurt
The first time I held a baby
The first time I rescued an animal
If you don’t remember the first time, then change the question:
I'm going to write about a time when I rescued an animal.
h) Twenty-five things that I want to do in my life (a bucket list)
PUBLISH
The book is put together in a word document or using OneDrive or Google Drive.
OPTIONAL: The book can be available on Amazon (published through
CreateSpace.com)
Each student keeps a copy of the book
The school keeps a copy of the book.
If some students do not want their real names used, they can create other
names. If students don’t want to publish the book, they can make a PRIVATE
selection on CreateSpace and print just two copies of the book: one copy for the
school, one copy for themselves and their parents. The copy for the school is
used to inspire other students.
If you don’t want anybody to see your story, then only one copy is made on
Createspace.org, just for you.
Students in Los Angeles complete this project as a requirement before receiving
their high school diplomas. You can learn more by writing to the Principal,
Enrique Gonzalez.
SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS in Florida
Credit in APEX
There are several places where credit is shown:
“Extra Credit” and in the “Direct Instruction” section of the Course Ticket.
Write to the students in California to get inspired. Example:
Dear Mr. Gonzalez exg0368@lausd.net
I heard about the Personal History Book. I am a student in Florida and I want to
make a similar book. I’d like to contact one of your students to learn more about
how their project worked. Maybe I can email or talk on the phone or text or
communicate on Facebook.
My contact information is:
Facebook.com/TheGuideOntheSide
VisualandActive@gmail.com
My phone number is (954) 646 8246
I’m ____ years old, I live in Oakland Park, Florida and I plan to go into the military
someday.
I want to see what a Personal History book looks like form one of your students.
Can you send me a copy as an ebook?
I have some questions. I’d like to contact some students who have completed
this project in your school.
I would like to share my Personal History book with some of your students and I’d
like to read their histories. Can you connect me to some of your students?
Sincerely,
John Cook, Student in Florida
VisualandActive@gmail.com
Questions? Write to Enrique at exg0368@lausd.net
OPTION: Another section of the project (if you want it)
The Bible is Literature: Some stories that are familiar to many people are read
by students. Then students write an essay
When you read these stories from the Bible…
What did the writer cause you to think about in your personal life?
The stories in the Bible are part of our society’s culture.
Enrique Gonzalez. Principal, Highland Park High School
He talks about “a personal history book
http://tinyurl.com/personalhistorybook

complete….
Worksheet 1:
The magic in my name
F is for Fierce
R is for Reasonable
A is for Active
N is for Nice
C is for Considerate
I is for Intelligent
S is for Sympathetic to animals
For more points, explain why you chose these words.
b) What’s in my family’s name?
Look up your first name in “baby name” websites, especially to find out the
origins.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts
complete….
Worksheet 2:
Create a map of my ancestors
Where did my extended family come from? Where did they live and where do
they live now?
Put your family’s travels on this map. Create a map for each parent, each
grandparent and then estimate where your ancestors might have traveled from.
Mom
Comments

Worksheet 2:
Person: __________________
Comments
Worksheet 2:
Person: _______________
Comments
Where did your relative travel?

Worksheet 2:
Person: _________________
Comments:
Where did your relative travel?
complete….
Worksheet 3: Family Tree
Family tree: Start with a different page for each grandparent.
The tree shows my parents, their brothers and sisters (my uncles and aunts), my
grandparents.
For ambitious students: Show the brothers and sisters of my grandparents so I
can see who my cousins and other relatives are.
For each person, put a sentence about their profession and where they live,
when they were born, etc.
http://www.vertex42.com/Files/pdfs/2/family-tree-chart_portrait.pdf
Put your name on the left,
your parents go in the middle and
your grandparents are on the right column

complete….
Worksheet 4:
Autobiography
Where I was born
Where I came from
Important events in my life
Where I went to school
A list of some of my friends and why I like them
Use the questions from StoryCorps to “interview yourself.” Choose questions to
answer. The structure of the worksheet can be
EITHER a timeline (birth, childhood, primary school, middle school, high
school…) http://writingyourlife.org/blog/2012/10/01/start-with-a-timeline/
OR
A series of answers to the many questions that you have selected
Personal/Historical Timeline Assignment
Create a timeline in which you find historical and personal events that have taken place in
America. Starting off with your birth, map out ten meaningful events of your life. Then
on the opposite side of the timeline, list out ten important historical events that have
occurred from your birth – current day (that relate to US History). Then, next to each item
on the timeline add a visual that represents the event. This can be a drawing, a photo, or a
printed picture. The descriptions of each event should be written or typed on the back side
of the timeline. They need to be put in the same order as they fall on the timeline.
*Remember this is a timeline so you should start with your birth and end with present day.
Areas to focus on that can be considered your socially historical events:
o Political Events
o World Events (United States needs to be involved)
o Social Events
o Technological Developments
o Local Events
o The events should be spread out across the timeline. At least 3 events should be from the
1990s.
§ Each historical fact should include the following details:
o What was the event?
o What happened at the event?
o When did it happen?
o Who was involved? (Countries, people)
o Where did it happen?
o What was the effect/impact it had on America?
Your personal events……. Anything that is considered monumental to you should be listed.
§ Each personal fact should include the following details:
o What was the event?
o What happened at the event?
o When did it happen?
o Who was involved?
o Where did it happen?
o What was the effect/impact it had on your life?
Source: http://www.lancerlibrary.org/personalhistorical-timeline.html

AUTOBIOGRAPHY by answering questions (choose some of these questions
and write, and write, and write… or talk to a camera and record your answers)
Questions from StoryCorps
http://storycorps.org/great-questions/
GREAT QUESTIONS FOR ANYONE
• Who has been the most important person in your life? Can you tell me about him or her?
• What was the happiest moment of your life? The saddest?
• Who has been the biggest influence on your life? What lessons did that person teach you?
• Who has been the kindest to you in your life?
• What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
• What is your earliest memory?
• What is your favorite memory of me?
• Are there any funny stories your family tells about you that come to mind?
• Are there any funny stories or memories or characters from your life that you want to tell
me about?
• What are you proudest of?
• When in life have you felt most alone?
• If you could hold on to one memory from your life forever, what would that be?
• How has your life been different than what you’d imagined?
• How would you like to be remembered?
• Do you have any regrets?
• What does your future hold?
• What are your hopes for what the future holds for me? For my children?
• If this was to be our very last conversation, is there anything you’d want to say to me
• For your great great grandchildren listening to this years from now: is there any wisdom
you’d want to pass on to them? What would you want them to know?
• Is there anything that you’ve never told me but want to tell me now?
• Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?
FRIENDS OR COLLEAGUES
• If you could interview anyone from your life living or dead, but not a celebrity, who
would it be and why?
• What is your first memory of me?
• Was there a time when you didn’t like me?
• What makes us such good friends?
• How would you describe me? How would you describe yourself?
• Where will we be in 10 years? 20 years?
• Do you think we’ll ever lose touch with each other?
• Is there anything that you’ve always wanted to tell me but haven’t?
GRANDPARENTS
• Where did you grow up?
• What was your childhood like?
• Who were your favorite relatives?
• Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
• How did you and grandma/grandpa meet?
• What was my mom/dad like growing up?
• Do you remember any songs that you used to sing to her/him? Can you sing them now?
• Was she/he well-behaved?
• What is the worst thing she/he ever did?
• What were your parents like?
• What were your grandparents like?
• How would you like to be remembered?
• Are you proud of me?
RAISING CHILDREN
• When did you first find out that you’d be a parent? How did you feel?
• Can you describe the moment when you saw your child for the first time?
• How has being a parent changed you?
• What are your dreams for your children?
• Do you remember when your last child left home for good?

• Do you have any favorite stories about your kids?
PARENTS
• Do you remember what was going through your head when you first saw me?
• How did you choose my name?
• What was I like as a baby? As a young child?
• Do you remember any of the songs you used to sing to me? Can you sing them now?
• What were my siblings like?
• What were the hardest moments you had when I was growing up?
• If you could do everything again, would you raise me differently?
• What advice would you give me about raising my own kids?
• What are your dreams for me?
• How did you meet mom/dad?
• Are you proud of me?
GROWING UP
• When and where were you born?
• Where did you grow up?
• What was it like?
• Who were your parents?
• What were your parents like?
• How was your relationship with your parents?
• Did you get into trouble? What was the worst thing you did?
• Do you have any siblings? What were they like growing up?
• What did you look like?
• How would you describe yourself as a child? Were you happy?
• What is your best memory of childhood? Worst?
• Did you have a nickname? How’d you get it?
• Who were your best friends? What were they like?
• How would you describe a perfect day when you were young?
• What did you think your life would be like when you were older?
• Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?
SCHOOL
• Did you enjoy school?
• What kind of student were you?
• What would you do for fun?
• How would your classmates remember you?
• Are you still friends with anyone from that time in your life?
• What are your best memories of grade school/high school/college/graduate school? Worst
memories?
• Was there a teacher or teachers who had a particularly strong influence on your life? Tell
me about them.
• Do you have any favorite stories from school?
LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
• Do you have a love of your life?
• When did you first fall in love?
• Can you tell me about your first kiss?
• What was your first serious relationship?
• Do you believe in love at first sight?
• Do you ever think about previous lovers?
• What lessons have you learned from your relationships?
MARRIAGE & PARTNERSHIPS
• How did you meet your husband/wife?
• How did you know he/she was “the one”?
• How did you propose?
• What were the best times? The most difficult times?
• Did you ever think of getting divorced?
• Did you ever get divorced? Can you tell me about it?
• What advice do you have for young couples?
• Do you have any favorite stories from your marriage or about your husband/wife?

WORKING
• What do you do for a living?
• Tell me about how you got into your line of work.
• Do you like your job?
• What did you think you were going to be when you grew up?
• What did you want to be when you grew up?
• What lessons has your work life taught you?
• If you could do anything now, what would you do? Why?
• Do you plan on retiring? If so, when? How do you feel about it?
• Do you have any favorite stories from your work life?
RELIGION
• Can you tell me about your religious beliefs/spiritual beliefs? What is your religion?
• Have you experienced any miracles?
• What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life?
• Do you believe in God?
• Do you believe in the after-life? What do you think it will be like?
• When you meet God, what do you want to say to Him?
SERIOUS ILLNESS
• Can you tell me about your illness?
• Do you think about dying? Are you scared?
• How do you imagine your death?
• Do you believe in an after-life?
• Do you regret anything?
• Do you look at your life differently now than before you were diagnosed?
• Do you have any last wishes?
• If you were to give advice to me or my children, or even children to come in our family,
what would it be?
• What have you learned from life? The most important things?
• Has this illness changed you? What have you learned?
• How do you want to be remembered?
FAMILY HERITAGE
• What is your ethnic background?
• Where is your mom’s family from? Where is your dad’s family from?
• Have you ever been there? What was that experience like?
• What traditions have been passed down in your family?
• Who were your favorite relatives?
• Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell you?
• What are the classic family stories? Jokes? Songs?
WAR
• Were you in the military?
• Did you go to war? What was it like?
• How did war change you?
• During your service, can you recall times when you were afraid?
• What are your strongest memories from your time in the military?
• What lessons did you learn from this time in your life?
REMEMBERING A LOVED ONE
• What was your relationship to _____?
• Tell me about _____.
• What is your first memory of _____?
• What is your best memory of _____?
• What is your most vivid memory of _____?
• What did _____ mean to you?
• Are you comfortable/ can you talk about _____’s death? How did _____ die?
• What has been the hardest thing about losing _____?
• What would you ask _____ if _____ were here today?
• What do you miss most about _____?
• How do you think _____ would want to be remembered?
• Can you talk about the biggest obstacles _____ overcame in life?
• Was there anything you and _____ disagreed about, fought over, or experienced some
conflict around?

• What about _____ makes you smile?
• What was your relationship like?
• What did _____ look like?
• Did you have any favorite jokes _____ used to tell?
• Do you have any stories you want to share about _____?
• What were _____’s hopes and dreams for the future?
• Is there something about _____ that you think no one else knows?
• How are you different now than you were before you lost _____?
• What is the image of _____ that persists?
• Do you have any traditions to honor _____?
• What has helped you the most in your grief?
• What are the hardest times?
SOURCE: http://storycorps.org/great-questions/
These questions come from StoryCorps.org. Why not take a moment and click
LIKE on their Facebook page?
Go ahead. Make an impact. Leave your impact on the Internet.
YourNetImpact.com
complete….
Worksheet 5: Picture Pages
Write at least two sentences about each photo (When, where, and why the photo
was taken, and how I was feeling at the time)
Three photos about my past
Three photos about my present
Three photos about Tomorrow
What I hope to be in the future
If the photos show your relatives, ask them “what was going on at the time?”
If you don’t have photos about yourself, find photos of a similar event.
For example, if you attended an important event that appeared in the newspaper,
you can put a screen shot of the video or if you shook hands with the governor,
you can write about what that was like.
If you want to add more photos, it’s okay
If you want to put a photo of a friend, that’s okay,. Remember to talk deeply
about how you felt at that moment.

complete….
Worksheet 6: Inspirational person
The most inspirational person in my life
Write about the person. What inspires you about the person?
What does the person do?
What are some of the quotes or proverbs that the person told you (or that you
read about)?
What advice did the person give you?
Tell a story that shows how important that person is in making you who you are.
The person can be dead. One of my students chose Dante Alighieri, the poet
and author. “Dante inspired me to become a writer,” my student told me. “I love
the way he writes and uses language to affect me when I am reading his stories.”
Then the student gave examples from some of the books that Dante wrote.
You might have never met this person. One of my students chose Richard
Dawkins and Neil Degrasse Tyson as his inspirational people. He quoted from
their books.
complete….
Worksheet 7: Personal Firsts
The first time I crossed a busy street
The first time I used a telephone
The first time I tried a new type of food
The first time I lost someone close to me
The first time I failed a test (and what I learned about myself)
The first time I won a race
The first time I lost a race The first time I was hurt
The first time I held a baby The first time I rescued an animal
If you don’t remember the first time, then change the question: You can write
about a time… (without giving a year).
I'm going to write about a time when I rescued an animal.
What “first” did I do? Here’s why it was important to me Year

complete….
Worksheet 8: I want to do these things
Twenty-five things that I want to do in my life (a bucket list)
“Before I kick the bucket…”
What do you want to do in the next 20 or 50 or 70 years?
I want to… Why:
Personal History Workbook: The Bucket List (continued)
I want to… Why:

complete….
Worksheet 9: Interview a relative, write the
stories, publish a book called “Stories that
my _____ told me.” Now you are an author.
PUBLISH
Yes, you can be a “published author.” You can find your name on Amazon.com.
You can type in your name in the search space and find a book next to your
name.
For example, “steve mccrea” gives the following result.
Imagine what you could produce.
POINTS SHEET
Every project has a list of standards (called a RUBRIC) showing “what’s a good
project” and “this project isn’t finished yet.”
Worksheet
Number of points
This project is
not ready yet
This project is ready Points
earned
The magic of my
name (5)
Made a list Each word is explained with a
short story
A map of
ancestors (10)
Some dots on a
map
Several arrows showing trips
with explanations on an
attached page.
Family tree (5
points/ branch)
Incomplete dates
without reasons
Any blanks are explained
Autobiography
(30)
I was born in
Atlanta, I went to
school in
Timeline: at least 30 entries
Questions: at least 30
answers with at least two
sentences per answer
Picture pages (10) I was three years
old in this photo.
at least two sentences per
photo, explain where and
what you might have been
thinking at the time
Inspirational
person (14)
A page of notes
and a photo
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Example
Personal
History
Project

Frantz
Saintil

Autobiography

A
brave
new
world

My
Family
Tree

Inspiring
People:

Dante

Delusion

The
importance
of
mistakes


Autobiography

My
name
is
Frantz
Saintil.
As
far
as
I
know,
and
I
far
as
I
was
told,
I
was

born
in
Port-‐au-‐Prince,
Haiti.
I
spent
part
of
my
childhood
in
a
small
city

called
cite
militaire.
From
what
I
remember
about
that
place,
it
was

small...
Too
small,
for
me
at
least.
Even
as
a
child,
I
was
extremely

adventurous
and
rebellious,
a
trait
I
carried
with
me
into
adulthood.
I

hated
staying
home,
and
would
leave
for
hours.
It
was
a
small
town

where
everyone
knew
each
other;
I
wasn't
in
any
real
danger
when
I
left

home.
What
did
I
do
when
I
left
home?
Well,
anything
and
everything.
I

was
a
boy
then.
Everything
was
a
toy,
a
game,
an
adventure.
During

simple
days,
some
of
my
friends
and
I
would
play
basketball
and/or

soccer.
But
during
more
exciting
days,
we
would
ride
our
bikes
far

behind
the
town's
lines
and
into
the
next
town.
We
weren't
supposed
to,

due
to
the
danger
that
lurked
beyond
the
town:
Gangs,
thieves,

kidnappers,
and
psychos.
We
didn't
care.
We
couldn't
care.
Our
sense
of

adventure
wouldn't
allow
us
to
care.
We
wouldn't
stay
for
long,
but
still

we
would
spot
"strange"
people
doing
unusual
things.

My
beloved
town
was
dirty.
It
was
home,
but
I
have
to
be
honest.
There

was
a
huge
and
deep
hole
in
the
ground
near
my
house.
They
filled
it
up

with
trash
and
garbage,
but
the
hole
was
so
deep
I
thought
it
was
the

gates
to
hell.
It
stunk
too,
badly.
Stray
animals
would
sometimes
fall
in.

Some
we
got
out,
but
unfortunately,
you
can't
save
everyone.
Eventually,

the
town's
people
cleaned
the
hole
and
filled
it
with
cement.
It
was
a

spectacle:
The
street
was
crowded
with
people,
the
air
filled
with
voices

and
laughter,
younger
children
would
run
and
play
with
their
toys
and

pets,
while
the
adults
worked
and
talked.
I
was
there
too,
but
I
didn't

take
part
in
the
work.
It
wasn't
interesting
enough.
However,
I
was

curious
as
to
whether
I
was
right
to
assume
that
the
hole
was
the
gate
to

hell.
It
was
not.

I
suppose
this
should
contain
only
the
most
memorable
and
defining

moments
in
my
life.
The
first
of
that
kind
is
the
day
I
found
my
first
pet...

Or
she
found
me.
It
was
a
long,
hot
day
for
me,
and
father
had
made
sure

to
keep
it
busy
by
further
teaching
me
how
to
properly
multiply
and

divide.
I
hated
those
days.
If
I
solved
a
problem
incorrectly,
I
was
to

stand
in
a
corner,
think
of
where
I
went
wrong,
and
try
again
until
I

fixed
the
problem.
And
that
was
the
easy
punishment.
After
I
proudly

and
correctly
solving
a
number
of
problems,
my
father
allowed
me
a
20-‐
minute
break.
That's
when
I
met
her.
She
was
so
small
and
ugly,
skinny

and
sickly,
being
dragged
across
the
dusty
floor
of
the
road
by
a
poor

excuse
for
a
leash.
She
was
crying
out,
and
in
a
way,
it
could
have
been

for
me.

Up
to
that
moment,
my
parents
didn't
allow
me
to
have
a
dog.
I

asked
numerous
times
before,
but
for
reasons
beyond
my

understanding,
they
wouldn't
allow
it.
But
even
they
couldn't
resist
her.

My
father
asked
the
man
why
he
was
dragging
the
puppy,
and
the
man

said
to
throw
it
away.
We
asked
if
we
could
have
the
pup
and
he
simply

handed
over
the
leash
and
left.
She
was
unpleasant
to
the
eyes
and
the

nose,
but
I
couldn't
help
but
to
fall
in
love
with
her.
In
a
few
short

months,
she
was
transformed
into
the
most
beautiful
dog
in
the
entire

town,
and
a
few
months
later,
she
was
pregnant,
and
gave
birth
to
three

pups.
Sadly,
I
left
the
country
a
week
after
the
pups
were
born.
Years

after
that,
she
died
in
the
volcano.
Her
pups,
MY
pups,
were
stolen
and

sold.
I
understand
people
were
desperate
and
needy
after
the

earthquake,
but
it's
a
matter
of
principle:
You
do
not
take
that
which

does
not
belong
to
you.
But
being
who
I
am,
I
strongly
believe
that
we

must
do
and
take
what
we
need
to
survive
and
even
thrive.
So,
I
forgave

and
I
forgot.

A
brave
new
world

Despite
the
complications
I've
endured,
the
first
scary
moment
I
ever

faced
was
leaving
my
home
for
another
country.
I
was
young.
I
had

friends.
My
life
was
simple,
until
that
day
came.
A
week
before
my

departure,
my
dog
gave
birth
to
three
puppies.
I
was
looking
forward
to

watching
them
grow
into
full
dogs,
and
helping
them
along
the
way.
I

never
had
that
privilege.
I
suppose
in
a
sense
I
needed
to
set
aside
the

least
important
things
in
my
life
and
embrace
the
most
important
things

in
order
to
grow.
It
was
so
long
ago,
I
forgot
when
I
left,
but
I
remember

it
was
in
December,
around
Christmas.
I
remember
because
that
was
the

first
time
I
got
drunk.
As
I
write
this,
I
am
still
not
old
enough
to
drink.

I
remember
approaching
the
plane.
It
was
huge,
and
had
a
roar
of
a

hundred
lions.
My
sister
was
afraid,
but
the
flight
attendant
comforted

her.
We
landed
a
few
hours
after.
Security
was
a
pain.
The
first,
new,

family
member
I
met
was
my
grandfather.
A
great
big
man
with
a
big

belly.
He
reminded
me
of
Santa
Clause,
if
Santa
was
black.
He
had
a
limp,

caused
by
a
fractured
knee,
yet
he
still
found
the
strength
to
walk
and

hug
my
parents,
then
my
sister
and
me.

The
second
person
I
met
was
my
uncle,
my
father's
younger
brother,

and
the
youngest
of
six
children.
He
was
a
bit
more
subtle,
but
there
was

no
mistaking
it,
he
was
happy
to
see
his
brother.
On
the
ride
to
my

grandparents’
house,
I
quickly
noticed
an
obvious
fact:
I
was
in
a
whole

new
world.
I
loved
my
old
home,
but
the
United
States
filled
me
with

awe.

It
was
stunningly
beautiful.
But
when
compared
to
Haiti,
I
guess
I

shouldn't
have
been
so
surprised.

My
favorite
and
least
favorite
family
member
was
my
father's
uncle.
He

was
an
old,
blind
man,
but
spoke
as
if
he
were
25.
He
spoke
too
much,

and
sometimes,
way
too
much.
He
was
that
uncle
that
everyone
has
and

loves
to
hate
because
he
could
be
such
a
pain.
The
best
way
to

summarize
him
is
with
one
name:
Kramer
(from
the
TV
show
Seinfeld).
I

loved
watching
him
give
everyone
a
hard
time.
Even
with
his
blindness

and
old
age,
he
was
annoying
and
playful.
I
met
other
family
members

as
well.
Each
of
them
special
and
interesting
in
their
own
ways.
It's
a

pity
we
aren't
close
anymore.

I
know
I
make
moving
to
the
U.S.
sound
like
the
best
thing
in
the
world,

and
it
is,
but
Haiti
was
pretty
great,
too.
I
had
friends
there,
and
family.
I

had
a
dog
and
three
puppies.
In
Haiti,
I
had
a
level
of
freedom
that
I
lack

In
the
U.S.

Truth
be
told,
before
I
moved,
Haiti
was
falling
apart.
I
remember
the

flying
bullets
and
the
stink
of
gunpowder.
A
gang
war
waged
near
my

town.
Whether
it
was
against
the
police,
the
government,
or
other
gangs,

I
did
not
know,
but
people
were
being
killed,
kidnapped,
or
even
worst.

Yes,
there
are
things
worse
than
death.
I
used
to
see
them-‐the
bullets.
At

night,
if
you
stared
at
the
horizon,
you
could
see
red
shooting
stars

flying
across
your
eyes.
Those
were
bullets.
Fortunately,
the
war
never

made
its
way
into
my
town,
but
it
did
circle
its
borders.
One
night,
I

heard
on
the
news
that
a
child
was
seen
walking
the
streets,
holding
a

red
bag.
When
the
child
got
home,
he
gave
the
bag
to
his
mother.
The

mother
opened
the
bag
and
found
the
severed
head
of
her
other
son.

They
sent
a
child
to
deliver
his
own
brother's
head
to
his
mother,
all

because
she
couldn't
pay
the
ransom.
The
people
were
mostly
poor.
So,

if
you
were
kidnapped,
expect
to
die,
because
your
family
wouldn't
have

enough
to
money
to
save
your
life.
They
couldn't
call
the
police
either.

The
police
force
in
Haiti
is
a
joke.

My
father
was
almost
kidnapped
one
night.
Though
we
have
our

differences,
my
father
is
a
great
father.
In
the
middle
of
the
night,
in
the

middle
of
a
gang
war,
he
decided
to
go
out
and
buy
us
food
for
the
night

and
the
next
morning.
He
knew
the
risks,
but
he
had
a
responsibility
to

his
family.
And
a
real
man
always
takes
care
of
his
responsibility.

Fortunately,
the
kidnappers’
attempt
woke
the
neighbors,
and
they

abandoned
their
attack.

I
miss
my
friends
and
my
home,
but
I
have
a
new
home
now,
in
a
brave

new
world.


My
family
tree

For
a
part
of
my
childhood,
my
mother's
side
of
the
family
was
the
only

side
I
knew.
Before
we
moved
to
the
United
States,
my
mother,
father,

sister
and
I
lived
some
20
steps
away
from
my
grandfather's
house
(my

mother's
father).
As
far
I
knew,
my
grandfather
was
just
an
old
man
who

enjoyed
sitting
on
his
rocking
chair
as
he
read
newspapers
and
drink

whatever
he
had
in
that
cup
of
his.
He
was
pretty
boring
and
quiet,

unless
it
was
Sunday.
My
grandfather
not
only
owned
and
operated
a

small
church,
he
was
a
contributing
member
of
a
bigger
church

somewhere
downtown.
On
Sundays,
he
completely
transformed
into
a

new
man:
flashy
suits,
watch,
shoes...
You'd
think
he
was
meeting
the

queen.

But
later
on
I
discovered
that
there
was
more
to
my
grandfather
than
a

boring
old
man
who
loved
God.
My
grandfather,
like
most
people,
was

heavily
flawed.
When
my
mother
and
her
brother
were
in
their
20s,
my

boring,
gentle,
God-‐fearing
grandfather
kicked
them
out.
I
believe
he

believed
he
had
his
reasons,
but
not
every
reason
is
just.
Kicking
my

mother
and
uncle
out,
along
with
many
of
my
grandfather's
other

indiscretions,
ignited
a
fire
of
petty
differences
and
conflict
in
our

already
small
family,
a
fire
that
burns
still
today,
though
dim
and
dying

as
it
is.
At
the
time,
my
mother
had
very
little
she
could
call
hers,
but

with
the
help
of
my
father
and
my
uncle,
she
survived,
and
if
I
may
say

so
myself,
thrived.
Unfortunately,
my
mother's
struggles
were
just

beginning.

My
parents
met
when
they
were
both
in
their
early
twenties.
My
father

was
born
outside
of
the
capital,
far
outside
of
the
city,
in
a
place
called

Port-‐de-‐Paix:
A
commune
and
the
capital
of
the
department
of
Norouest

in
Haiti
on
the
Atlantic
coast.
My
mother
was
born
on
the
opposite
end

of
the
country
in
Port-‐au-‐Prince,
the
capital
and
largest
city
of
Haiti.
My

father
left
Port-‐de-‐Paix
after
he
graduated
high
school.
At
the
time,
he

was
about
17
or
18.
My
parents
met
when
they
were
both
around
22
or

23,
and
were
married
five
years
after.
I
was
born
three
years
after
that,

but
not
without
complications.
My
mother,
unfortunately,
is
diabetic,

and
she's
been
a
diabetic
since
before
I
was
born,
which
made
her

dreams
of
motherhood
a
nightmare.
I'm
the
first
child
of
my
mother,
but

I
wasn't
her
first
pregnancy.
Whether
her
diabetes
played
a
hand
in
this

or
not
is
uncertain,
but
my
mother
miscarried
twice
before
I
was
born.

Right
before
I
was
conceived,
diabetes
aimed
to
claim
my
mother's
life.

While
she
was
bedbound
and
petrified
by
her
illness,
a
man,
whom
she

could
not
identify,
came
to
my
mother
and
told
her
to
look
in
the
mirror,

she
looked
and
saw
an
old,
grey-‐haired
version
of
herself.
She
was
upset

and
asked
the
man
why
he
did
this
to
her.

The
man
smiled
and
replied,

"You
are
going
to
live
a
very
long
life,"
then
disappeared...
Or
so
she

claimed.
Superstitious
nonsense
of
course,
but
I'm
happy
to
say
that
it's

been
twenty
years
since
then,
and
my
mother
is
still
alive,
healthy,

working,
and
has
had
the
strength
to
give
life
to
two
children.

I
remember
when
my
uncle
left
for
the
United
States.
It
upset
me.
I
loved

my
uncle,
much
more
than
I
loved
any
of
my
other
uncles,
but
that's

simply
because
I
never
knew
them.
My
mother
told
me
that
after
I
was

born,
my
uncle
would
take
me
and
spend
an
entire
day
with
me.
He

would
ignore
his
friends
for
days
just
to
be
with
me.
I've
always
held

that
over
my
sister,
since
he
never
bonded
with
her
as
he
did
with
me.
I

used
to
tell
her
the
reason
why
uncle
doesn't
like
her
is
because
she
was

adopted,
and
her
real
parents
were
murderers.
Of
course
she
believed

me.
Evil,
yes,
but
fun
all
the
same.
I
haven't
spoken
to
my
uncle
since
he

left,
not
because
I
can't
or
I
don't
want
to,
but
because,
well,
I
have

nothing
to
say
to
him,
and
I
imagine
he
has
nothing
to
say
to
me.

According
to
my
mother,
my
uncle
and
I
share
similar
personalities:
we

both
hate
crowds,
we
keep
to
ourselves,
we're
shy,
but
will
be

outspoken
when
we
need
to
be,
and
we're
both
quiet.
Though
my

uncle's
traits
rubbed
off
on
me,
we
do
have
identifiable
differences.
For

example,
I
became
somewhat
of
an
anarchist,
but
my
uncle
was
once
a

police
officer.

I
cherished
my
relationship
with
my
uncle,
and
I
still
do,
but
that's

mainly
because
my
father
and
I
never
had
(and
still
don't
have)
much
of

a
relationship.
Aside
from
our
last
names
and
the
fact
that
we're
both

males,
the
man
and
I
have
absolutely
nothing
in
common.
My
father

was,
in
his
perspective,
smart,
responsible,
reliable,
dependable...
An

example
of
what
everyone
should
be,
yet
I
stand
the
opposite.
I
never

could
meet
my
father's
standards,
and
it
used
to
bother
me.
For
most
of

my
childhood,
until
I
turned
13
and
stopped
caring,
my
entire
existence

was
entirely
devoted
to
making
my
father
proud.
I
never
could.
He
used

to
say,
"How
did
I
end
up
with
a
son
like
you?
When
I
was
your
age
I

was..."

Our
relationship
only
worsened
with
time.
Now
we
barely
speak.

But
don't
get
me
wrong:

he
was
and
still
is
a
good
father.
He
made
sure

that
his
family
had
everything
they
needed:
a
house,
mode
of

transportation,
food,
and
clothes.
Some
of
my
friends
don't
know
their

father,
and
though
they
have
my
sympathy,
I'm
grateful
for
knowing

mine.
My
father
took
me
to
school
and
made
sure
I
learned.
He
taught

me
math
and
helped
with
my
science
homework.
He
fed
me
far
before
I

got
hungry,
and
made
sure
I
looked
my
best
when
I
left
the
house.
He
is

a
good
father,
but,
in
my
opinion,
a
questionable
dad.
My
father
may
not

like
me;
I
may
not
be
the
son
he
wanted,
but
he
stuck
around
to
watch

and
help
me
grow,
and
for
that,
he
deserves
my
thanks.

My
mother
on
the
other
hand
loves
me.
I'm
her
first
born.
Though
she

may
not
agree
with
my
life
choices,
she
absolutely
adores
me.
Although

she
can
be
manipulative,
passive-‐aggressive,
and
intolerably
annoying,
I

love
her
too.
I
should
act
like
it
more.
It's
been
years
since
I
hugged
and

thanked
her
simply
for
being
the
best
mother
a
child
could
ask
for.

Inspiring
people
in
my
life
1:

Dante
Alighieri

Before
I
took
it
upon
myself
to
engage
the
challenges
of
being
a
writer,
I

dreamt
of
being
many
things.
I
dreamt
of
being
a
racecar
driver,
a

zoologist,
and
a
game
designer.
But
in
time,
the
child
in
me
had
his
fill
of

hopes
and
childish
dreams.
The
man
in
me
found
his
true
calling
after
I

watched
the
animated
movie
Dante's
Inferno,
an
Animated
Epic.
Ironic,
I

know.
I
grew
obsessed
with
the
movie.
If
you
can
believe
it,
it
spoke
to

me
and
showed
me
a
beautiful
truth
about
the
power
of
a
god.
Being
a

writer
means
having
the
power
to
make
possible
the
impossible.
It's
the

power
to
create
worlds,
galaxies,
even
universes.

Life
and
death
itself
at

the
tip
of
a
pen,
my
pen.
It
gave
me
freedom
for
loneliness
and
the

mundane.

Dante
bested
all
manners
of
demons
and
vile
creatures
in
all
the
nine

circles
of
hell,
and
conquered
Lucifer
himself,

all
to
save
his
beloved.
It
was
a
task
impossible

in
this
world,
but
not
so
in
the
realm
of

literature,
in
my
world.

It
may
seem
egotistical,
but
on
the
face
of
pages

and
paper,
I
forged
a
world
that
centers
on
me.

A
world
in
which
I
am
king,
God,
and
devil.
A

world
in
which
I
am
both
hero
and
villain
-‐-‐
an

escape
from
reality.
An
honest
world.
A
good

world.
A
delusional
world.
A
home
at
last.

Dante
Alighieri,
the
poet
who
wrote
the
Divine
Comedy,
and
my
favorite

writer,
paved
the
way
to
my
greatest
and
most
daunting
challenge:
To

become
a
writer.


Inspirational
people
2:
Richard
Dawkins,
Sam

Harris,
Bill
Nye
(the
science
guy),
Plato,

Lawrence
Krauss,
Neil
Degrasse
Tyson

Doctors
Richard
Dawkins,
Sam
Harris,
Bill
Nye,
Lawrence
Krauss,
and

Neil
Degrasse
Tyson
rescued
me
from
a
world
of
immorality.

I
used
to

live
in
a
void
threatened
by
the
unintelligent,
the

unreasonable,
and
the
illogical.
These
heroes
gave
me

the
best
advice
a
human
can
give
to
another:
Think

critically,
scientifically,
and
question
everything.

This
is
advice
that
my
children
will
inherit
(if
I
have

children),
and
hopefully,
so,
too,
will
their
children.

Bill
Nye
(above),

Laurence
Krauss

(below)

Since
my
"revelation,"
I've
risen
above
childish

thoughts,
ambitions,
and
beliefs.
The
fogged
cleared
and

revealed
a
brand
new
world
for
my
eyes
to
see.
Beyond

the
world
my
parents
hid
me
in
was
a
bigger
world,
one

with
wonderful
things
to
know
and
learn.
A
scientific

world.
Quickly,
I
took
a
liking
to
astrophysics
and

biology.
The
little
I've
learned
since
then
was
enough
to

re-‐shape
my
entire
perspective
on
life,
each
other,
and
the
world
we
call

home.
I
took
an
interest
in
evolution,
and
decided
to
learn
as
much
as
I

could
before
moving
on
to
other
projects.
To
avoid
committing
an
act
of

hypocrisy,
I
didn't
simply
study
evolution.
I
researched
as
much
as
I

could
of
what
I
studied,
and
even
conducted
my
own
experiments
in

order
to
measure
the
authenticity
of
my
research.
After
learning
of
the

evolution
of
flight,
I
built
a
model
of
a
bird
and
attempted
to
replicate

the
attributes
that
allow
birds
to
fly:
The
shape
of
the
wings,
the
unique

lungs,
the
muscles
on
the
wings
and
legs,
the
hollowed
bones.
My
bird

glided
across
the
backyard,
but
without
the
power
of
real
muscles,
it

could
fly
no
further.

For
a
time,
I
tried
to
open
the
gates
of
this
world
to
my
friends
and

family,
but
unfortunately,
unlike
a
snake,
not
everyone
possesses
the

ability
to
shed
their
old
skin
for
a
new,
more
beautiful
one.
They
lack
the

ability
to
simply
do
as
much
as
consider
it.
A
sad
fact,
but
a

fact
nonetheless.
The
things
I
learned
from
my
heroes
are
the

core,
the
foundation
of
the
man
I
am
today
and
the
man
I
am

bound
to
become
tomorrow.
And
though
many
would
find

faults
in
my
growth,
I
stand
ever
so
proud
of
it.

Neil
Degrasse
Tyson

Plato

Sam
Harris

Richard
Dawkins

Delusion

In
a
stroke
of
irony,
one
of
my
greatest
heroes,
for
a
time
now,
has
been

delusion.

It's
a
strange
thing
to
cling
to
a
delusion,
but
for
some,
it's
not
a
choice

easily
made.
My
childhood,
my
upbringing,
and
the
current
status
of
my

life
today
all
scream
out
for
help.
With
minimal
effect,
I
can
trace
all
my

"problems"
back
to
my
relationship
with
others,
or
the
lack
thereof.
My

father
and
I
shared
a
rather
strange
relationship,
one
that
only

worsened
with
the
aid
of
time.
It
all
arose
from
my
inability
to
become

the
son
he
wanted.
I
can't
remember
the
last
time
my
father
and
I

exchanged
kind
words.
As
a
child,
I
was
committed
to
devote
the
best

years
of
my
life
to
making
my
father
proud,
a
task
I
later
found

impossible.
Still
today,
I
am
convinced
the
man
hates
me.
My
lack
of

relationship
with
my
father
is
just
the
beginning
to
the
answer
of
why
I

prefer
delusion
to
reality.

Like
the
rest
of
humanity,
I
too
have
had
my
share
of
heartbreaks
and

heartbreaking,
but
I
feel
I
have
reached
my
breaking
point.
Our
trusted

guides
-‐-‐
authority
figures
in
our
lives,
parents,
teachers,
uncles,
and

grandparents
-‐-‐
all
told
us
of
the
wonders
of
falling
in
love,
the
epic

quest
of
finding
your
"soul
mate,"
and
through
it,
the
pursuit
of
ultimate

happiness.
But
what
they
failed
to
mention
was
how
much
of
ourselves

we
lose
in
the
process.
It
is
a
great
and
wonderful
thing
to
fall
in
love,

don't
misunderstand
me,
but
in
my
opinion,
it's
not
nearly
worth
the

trouble.
I've
been
permanently
scarred
by
love,
a
scar
I
fear
not
even

time
has
the
power
to
ease.
It
is
sad
and
pathetic
to
miss
someone
so

much
that
you
stay
awake
night
after
night
teary
eyed,
and
to
know
that

they
don't
care
and
are
happy
with
another:
your
replacement.
The

thought
is
enough
to
drive
a
man
insane,
especially
when
said
man
has

no
one
to
share
those
thoughts
with,
and
no
one
to
teach
him
that
pain,

heartbreak,
tears,
and
sleepless
nights
are
all
parts
of
growing
up.
And

that
pain
shapes
character.
And
scars,
well,
those
are
proud
proofs
that

you
survived
the
vicious
side
of
reality.

Everything
I
now
know
of
life
and
pain,
things
that
my
"beloved"
father

was
meant
to
teach
me,
I
found
out
for
myself.
Trouble
is,
I
fear
I
was

too
late.
In
my
head
I
built
a
world
where
I
know
happiness,
love,
family,

compassion,
and
all
the
things
I
find
lacking
in
my
real
life.
In
that
world,

I
am
happy,
or
I
was,
until
it
too
caved
in
and
went
up
in
flames.
My

intelligence,
though
limited
as
it
may
be,
could
not
allow
me
to
continue

living
a
false
life
in
my
own
head.
I
value
truth,
and
a
delusion
is
the

exact
opposite.

So...
Why
is
delusion
my
hero?
Because,
as
cowardly
as
it
may
seem
to

hide
in
a
false,
delusional
world,
it's
what's
kept
me
alive
for
over
five

years.
If
I
didn't
run
and
hide
to
a
place
where
I
had
a
father
who
loved

me
and
was
proud
of
me,
true
friends
who
cared
for
me,
love
in
the
gaze

of
a
woman
who
would
stand
by
me
through
hell,
and
ultimately

everything
that
I
didn't
have
in
this
world,
I
would
have
ended
my
own

life
long
ago...
The
thought
certainly
crossed
my
mind
a
few
hundred

times.
I
am
not
expecting
anyone
to
understand
why.
Try
as
I
might,
I

cannot
replicate
the
burden
of
being
fundamentally
lonely,
and
the
pain

of
being
an
utter
disappointment
in
words.
Being
delusional
for
a
short

while
saved
my
life.
But
now
that
I
shattered
my
delusion,
ironclad
and

armed
to
the
teeth,
I
think
and
hope
that
I
am
finally
ready
to
once
again

face
reality.


Statement
by
a
Teacher

I’m
impressed
with
this
effort.

The
work
of
a

Personal
History
is
part
of
the
graduation

requirements
of
some
schools.

Frantz
has
given
an

excellent
standard
for
other
students
at
SunEd
High

to
aim
for.

Mr.
Steve

Projects
and
Global
Skills
Instructor

16
November
2014

Contact
me
with
your
questions

(954)
646
8246

SMcCrea@sunedhigh.com

POINTS SHEET for Frantz
Frantz selected some of the projects to complete. [o] indicates a project that was
omitted.
Worksheet
Number of points
This project is
not ready yet
This project is ready Points
earned
The magic of my
name (5)
Made a list Each word is explained with a
short story
[o]
A map of
ancestors (10)
Some dots on a
map
Several arrows showing trips
with explanations on an
attached page.
[o]
Family tree (5
points/ branch)
Incomplete dates
without reasons
Any blanks are explained 5
Autobiography
(30)
I was born in
Atlanta, I went to
school in
Timeline: at least 30 entries
Questions: at least 30
answers with at least two
sentences per answer
30
Picture pages (10) I was three years
old in this photo.
at least two sentences per
photo, explain where and
what you might have been
thinking at the time
[o]
Inspirational
person (14)
A page of notes
and a photo
At least ten pages with
specific pieces of advice.
14
Personal Firsts (4) A list without
reasons
Each “first” includes at least
WHY the event is important.
[o]
I want to do these
things (2)
A list without
reasons
Each goal includes at least
WHY the goal is important.
[o]
Interview a
relative (20)
Five questions
and two pages.
Use at least 20 questions
from StoryCorps.org
[o]
Additional entries
Delusion
More inspirational
people
Brave New World
(trip to USA) (51)
These items
replace 51 points
that were omitted
Comment: Full marks would
include some images and
some careful formatting.
Extra points for taking the
initiative to shape the project
to his own standard
50
Total 100 points Points earned >>>>>>>>> 99
Comment by evaluator: Frantz, you shaped this project to fit you.
You are not becoming a writer: with this effort, you have become
a writer. Please keep writing. Start a blog. I want to subscribe
to your blog.
A Project by Olivier

Sometimes
a
project
takes
a
while
to
unfold.

Olivier
plans
to
write
a
book
called
To

Be
Continued.

It
started
as
a
poem
or
a
rap
of
four
pages
and
two
weeks
later
is
had

grown
to
16
pages.

See
the
work
as
it
unfolds…

tp://tinyurl.com/oliviercontinued

For
teachers
who
are
not
familiar
with
Google
Drive
and
Google
Docs,
you
can
ask

students
to
allow
you,
the
teacher,
to
comment
or
edit.

Here
are
some
screen
shots.

This
is
how
the
Google
Doc
format
looks.

This
is
how
the
“share
menu”
looks:

Hear
Olivier’s
comments
about
his
book
(an
interview
in
October
2014).

Find
his
video
at
Olivier
Mathurin
SunEd
High”
on
YouTube.

That’s
the
end
of
Part
One

Personal
History
Workbook

Now
let’s
go
to
the
next
part…

Part Two
Step 1: Listen to a short talk on YouTube about the Skills for the future.
Suggested Project: Tony Wagner takes 27 minutes to describe the 7 skills.
Why not make a poster and help people learn the 7 skills more quickly?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS2PqTTxFFc
You can also go to Dr. Wagner’s website about the “Seven Survival Skills”
(use those search terms).
Step 2: Select a skill to work on. Most students do not get enough opportunity
to develop INITIATIVE and Entrepreneuring.
Step 3: Propose something. Take the
INITIATIVE. Make the first move.
a) Put the idea on paper.
Describe your idea.
Describe the materials that you might need to make your project happen.

b) Approach a teacher with the idea: BUT DON’T TALK
ABOUT IT. Take time to put your idea into writing and then let the teacher
have time to read your note and think about how to respond to your initiative.
What do you want to do?
Go ahead. Make an impact. Leave your impact on the Internet.
YourNetImpact.com

Here’s
a
look
at
the
YourNetImpact.com
page
(as
of
October

2014):

You can learn about the 12 Global Skills
http://bibpenpals.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/12-global-skills-that-your-students-
can-learn-with-bib-penpals/
Project: What are the 12 Global Skills?

Tony Wagner
Can we take the initiative? Can we begin something?
Dr. Daniel Amen AmenClinics.com
Building International Bridges (BIBPenpals.com)
Those are the general questions that guide this section of the workbook. This is
a bonus section because most students who create a Personal History Book do
not move into the topic of “resilience” or “Global Skills” – most students don’t
know about the websites or videos by “Daniel Amen” or “Tony Wagner.”
The challenge for students is to build a project out of these questions.
Perhaps you will make a website about links to Daniel Amen’s tips about brain
health and you might create a blog about your attempts to follow Amen’s advice.
Your blog could report step by step about your experiences as a “more resilient”
person.
You are a
teenager. You
know better
than many
adults.
Businesses and
organizations do NOT
have “personal”
pages on Google + and
Facebook.
Project: Take the
Initiative
Take the first step and
make a proposal to a
company. “I think your
social media could be more organized. Can I make a better
experience for your younger customers?”
Learn how to set up a “Pages” Page on Facebook.

Learn how to set up a “Business” on Google+
https://support.google.com/business/answer/4566606?hl=en&authuser=0&rd=1
TInyURL.com/GooglePlusBusinessPage
http://tinyurl.com/googleplusbusinesspage
Project: What are the Nine ANTs?
What can we do about them?
Dr. Daniel Amen AmenClinics.com
Daniel Amen has identified nine ANTs.
Summary of A.N.T. Species:
1. "Always" thinking: thinking in words like always, never, no one, every one,
every time, everything.
2. Focusing on the negative: only seeing the bad in a situation.
3. Fortune telling: predicting the worst possible outcome to a situation.
4. Mind reading: believing that you know what another person is thinking,
even though they haven't told you.
5. Thinking with your feelings: believing negative feelings without ever
questioning them.
6. Guilt beatings: thinking in words like "should, must, ought or have to."
7. Labeling: attaching a negative label to yourself or to someone else.
8. Personalization: innocuous events are taken to have personal meaning.
9. Blame: blaming someone else for your own problems
http://ahha.org/articles.asp?Id=100
This article appears at www.TinyURL.com/NineAnts
http://tinyurl.com/danielamen9ants
Dr. Amen also has tips about “brain health.” Search for “12 Prescriptions
for Healthy Brains Amen” and “10 Everyday Tips to Boost Brainpower”
PROJECT: Create a poster with some of these tips that you have used
successfully.
http://thebestlist.menshealth.com/list/10-everyday-tips-boost-brainpower
http://www.amenclinics.com/cybcyb/12-prescriptions-for-creating-a-brain-
healthy-life/

Here is an article about a graph.
A second article gives a list of Tips to boost brain power.
The Project: Can you make a poster that explains some of these ideas?
How do you plan to use these ideas in your life?
1. Work hard to boost your brain’s reserve. Brain reserve is the extra function and tissue to deal with
whatever stress comes your way. When we’re born, we typically have a lot of brain reserve, especially
if our parents took good care of themselves before and during pregnancy. If we aren’t very careful, life
steals our reserve (stress, brain injuries, lousy diets, etc.). At some point, either due to bad habits or
aging, brain reserve becomes depleted and symptoms develop (memory problems, depression,
fatigue, irritability, etc.)
Getting well is not just about being symptom-free, it’s about boosting brain reserve, which
requires 3 simple strategies:
1. Brain envy (you have to really care about your brain)
2. Avoid anything that hurts your brain
3. Engage in regular brain healthy habits
Project: How do we build “mental toughness”?
Read this article and create a poster or video to explain the ideas in the article.
http://dr-daniel-g-amen.blogspot.com/2009/01/mental-toughness-develop-
resilient.html
Look for this shortcut: http://tinyurl.com/amenstress
SOME STRESS IS GOOD (to build RESILIENCE)
An interesting twist on the research occurs when children are exposed to mild,
manageable forms of stress. It appears that these stresses actually aid in building
resilience. Some stress, it seems, is good, even important. This is known as “stress
inoculation”, based on the analogy to vaccinations against infections. The theory is
that when a person is presented with a mild form of an infectious disease, he or she
develops immunity by learning how to fight it off.
Children who are faced with and overcome moderately stressful events, such as
family moves, parental illnesses or losing friendships, are better able to deal with
adversity later in life than people who were never exposed to trouble as children.
Children who learn to cope with stress seem to have a better ability to deal with
hardships over the long term. In one study, teenage boys who survived stressful
childhood events experienced less overt signs of stress, such as increased heart
rate and blood pressure changes, when performing challenging tasks compared to
their counterparts who had not struggled with earlier trouble.
Research on animals lend credence to the stress inoculation theory and provides
insight into its brain mechanism. Young monkeys separated from their mothers for
one hour every week (a manageable stressor) experienced acute distress during the
separation periods, and temporarily increased levels of cortisol, the stress
hormone. Later in life, however, the same monkeys demonstrate lower anxiety and
lower baseline cortisol levels than monkeys who had never been separated from
their mothers. Furthermore, these “stress inoculated” monkeys demonstrate
improved performance on tests that measure prefrontal cortex function. Poor control
of prefrontal cortex function has been associated with depression and impulsivity in
humans.
It seems that it is the amount of early stress that matters. Too much is clearly a
problem, but too little leaves you without the skill to manage trouble later on. This
research highlights an important point. Try not to protect your
children from every hardship they may face. As a father
of three children, I never wanted my children to suffer, yet if I did everything for them
and never allow them to experience stress, they will not develop the ability to deal
with the hardships that will inevitably come their way. It would be as though I never
vaccinated them against stress.

Project about “Hardships”
What hardships or difficulties have you experienced?
How did several of those hardships affect you?
What did you learn from these difficulties?
Make a list of three things that you survived.
Write a list of recommendations to parents.
For example:
I was 16 years old and I went on a trip …
(write about your experiences)
Project: Connect with people around the world
Building International Bridges (BIBPenpals.com)
Project: Watch the video
Read the directions at BIBPenpals.com
What countries do you want to visit someday?
What cities?
There might be some people living in those cities who need your help to
understand and practice English conversation. Read more below.

From BIBPenpals.com
Many students in the USA need service hours to show that they have helped in
the community. This means spending time at a hospital or picking up trash in
state parks. Volunteer hours can also be earned by using a computer.
Hundreds of students are waiting online for a U.S. teenager to spend time
helping international students improve their English skills. In return, the U.S.
teenager can learn some phrases in another language and get hours for helping
share the U.S. culture with people who dream about speaking English with a U.S.
accent.
For more information, ask students to contact me at (954) 646 8246 or call me on
SKYPE at SteveEnglishTeacher or write to me t FreeEnglishlessons@gmail.com
Paloma in Brazil: paloma_ortegas@hotmail.com
France: benjamin.dumay@hotmail.fr
Falvia (Brazil) fla_martins_88@hotmail.com
Christian612@web.de bicycle enthusiast in Germany
Facebook: ahmad.alzahri Saudi hospital administrator
Spain: zarate_094@hotmail.com
I spoke to these people by Skype and email:
A teacher in Florianopolis, Brazil: Jaluif@yahoo.com.br SKYPE:
Skype: Novinshahroudi mng.n.2006@gmail.com
Davitvanyan95 (skype) 16-year-old in Armenia
These are sincere people who have sent me many requests for conversation practice:
Thailand: m555kennel@gmail.com
From India, living in Birmingham, England: wardagemini@hotmail.com skype warda12770
Tamara in Brazil: tamara_fernandes@hotmail.com
SKYPE: EGYPT: eta1232002 an engineer
http://bibpenpals.wordpress.com/2011/12/

That’s the end of Part Two
Now let’s go to the next part…
Part Three
We Are All Salespeople
The best of Dan Pink’s website
Project: Select a Product and Make a Pitch
Read Mr. Pink’s Flipped Manifesto.
Watch the “Jedi Mind Trick” video by Dan Pink.
Project: Select a Product and Make a Pitch
Mr. Pink offers several videos about how to “pitch” (attempt to persuade).
Choose one and create a pitch. Practice on a teacher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvxtC60V6kc
The six pitches in a 4-minute video.
Search:

6 Elevator Pitches for the 21st Century
Other resources
http://www.danpink.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sixpitches.pdf
These are some tips to guide you in making the six pitches.

Read Mr. Pink’s Flip Manifesto.
The segment about “finding your passion” is intriguing because it is not what
many teachers advise. What is your opinion of Mr. Pink’s suggestion?
(From The Flip Manifesto)
People ask, "What's your passion?"
Ladies and gentlemen, I detest that question.
When someone poses it to me, my innards
tighten. My vocabulary becomes a palette of
aahs and ums. My chest wells with the urge
to flee.
Oh my. The answer better be
top-shelf—not some fumbling,
bargain basement reply. But I
know the responses
I've formed in my head aren't especially
good. Worse, they're probably not even
accurate. And I'm not alone.
The Flip Manifesto is located at http://danpink.s3.amazonaws.com/FLIP-
Manifesto.pdf
Or you can find it at www.TinyURL.com/danpinkflip
Click on Mr. Pink’s Facebook account.
Go ahead. Leave a footprint. Make a mark. Leave your impact on the Internet.
YourNetImpact.com

Project: What is the Jedi Mind Trick?
What does Dan Pink recommend?
Search “Dan Pink Jedi Mind Trick persuade others”
http://bigthink.com/videos/how-to-persuade-others-with-the-right-questions-jedi-
mind-tricks-from-daniel-h-pink
http://www.danpink.com/ac/how-to-persuade-others-with-the-right-questions-jedi-
mind-tricks-from-daniel-h-pink/
So let me give you a hypothetical. Suppose that you're a parent and
you have a daughter, say a teenage daughter, who's room is an
absolute mess. It just looks like a bomb went off in there and you want
your daughter to clean her room. You're trying to sell her on the idea of
cleaning her room. What do you do? Well, you could try to bribe her
and that might work in the short term. You could try to threaten her --
that might work in the short term. You can try to exhort her, you can try
to, you know, tell her about the meaning of clean rooms. But there's
actually a technique from actually the counseling literature really
crystallized by a fellow named Mike Pantalon of Yale University called
motivational interviewing. And what you can do more effectively is ask
two irrational questions. So, let's say that you have a daughter named
Maria and Maria has a messy room and you want Maria to clean her
room. The two questions you could ask Maria are this:
"Maria, on a scale of one to ten, one meaning I'm not ready at all;
ten meaning I'm ready to do it right now. _______________, Maria,
to _________________." Now, Maria's room is a pig sty so she's not
going to give you a ten or a nine or even a five. Maybe she'll give you a
two.So she says, "Dad, I'm a two." Well here's where the second
question comes in and it's a really interesting counterintuitive
question. You say to Maria, "Okay, Maria. You're a two. Why
_______ _________________________?" Now our instincts as
parents is to say -- as a parent of three kids I have this instinct very
strongly. If my kid were to say to me I'm a two, I would say, "What, why
are you a two? You should be a nine."
Directed/Produced by Jonathan Fowler, Elizabeth Rodd, and Dillon
Fitton
Your project:
a) Fill in the blanks above. This means that you will listen
to the video that Dan Pink gave or you can find the
transcript.
b) What could you do to make this technique more
popular? Could you write a blog post? Could you make a
poster? Could you make a YouTube video?

A Short Summary of Dan Pink’s first five books
In July 2005 I received a book from Marshal Thurber. The book arrived by
FedEx. It was July 3. I’ll always remember thinking, “Marshall must really
respect me and this book. He sent it to my attention, so I better give it some
time.” Thanks to Marshall, I was exposed to a book that I had ignored, since I
wasn’t reading the New York Times Book Review regularly… which I do now via
the Internet at “NYtimes book review” or
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/review/index.html
I learned later that AWNM is part of an
exploration by Dan Pink about “what should
teachers expose to students.” The books
form a chain of topics that students might
benefit from studying.
Free Agent Nation (2001) was written after
Dan Pink lost his job as a speech writer for
Al Gore. Everyone will be unemployed at
some point and we can redefine ourselves
as “free agents” and create jobs and
projects. Chapter 15 about “School
is Out” has some of the best
descriptions of the transformation of
education that I’ve seen. The
chapter appeared in Reason as an article: search at “school is out reason dan
pink.”
A Whole New Mind (2005) covers three areas where the creative person can
move ahead: Asia, Automation and Abundance. Take a moment and search
“asia, automation, abundance summary” and find this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syo6ecgclR0. The book has six sections that
explore how we can build the right side of our brain.
See the Oprah Interview: http://www.danpink.com/2008/10/my-favorite-interview-
ever
Here is a comment that I posted on Pink’s website:
When I heard that Oprah Winfrey had given Pink's book A Whole New Mind to
4000 graduates at Stanford University, I had to find out if Oprah had ever
interviewed Dan Pink... and what a remarkable interview it is. I ask my students
to watch it to find out why Oprah was so moved by the book and its ideas.
Some of my students actually thank me for showing them page 133 (the FedEx
question: "What do you see?"). It's an excellent question but I had to blacken
out the answer so that my students (one at a time) can have a chance to
experience the moment when the right side of the brain is given time to observe.
a remarkable tool for middle school and especially high school. A required book
in my classrooms. I have four copies floating around student homes at the
moment.
Thank you, Mr. Pink.

Drive (2009) asks
“What motivates us?”
(in addition to money).
After we get enough to
cover our needs, the
answers appear to be
“autonomy, mastery
and purpose.” His
entertaining video on
“RSA animate dan
pink motivation” is
worth ten minutes.
To Sell Is Human (2010) opened
my mind to the idea that we are all
in sales. In 1983 I heard Zig Zigler
point out that Columbus had to be
a salesman. Guess what? We all
have opportunities to move others
to devote time or money or their
energies to pursue some action
that we want to see happen. We
are all in sales.
His manga book is called The Adventures of Johnny
Bunko. It’s a quick read that ends with the suggestion
that we can each “make our mark.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=163wRR87-Mg
Learn more about these books and about Dan Pink
by going to danpink.com.
END NOTE
This workbook was inspired by a conversation with Enrique Gonzalez. Here is
the link to the YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtYlx0aUPjU
See TinyURL.com/SunEdPersonalHistory
Find more projects with Matt Blazek’s work
www.TinyURL.com/mattblazek
www.TinyURL.com/blazekprojects
Find more links at TransformTeaching.org and at
www.TinyURL.com/projectsandportfolios

Send comments to VisualAndActve@gmail.com and
TheEbookman@gmail.com. Call me at (954) 646 8246
Send your comments to Mr. Steve at VisualAndActive@gmail.com.
I’ll close with a quote from one of my students (in Lab 3):
I really like
history. I
want to ask my
grandmother
about what
she
remembers. Can I really
create a book with her
memories and give it to
her?
Answer: Yes. Go to TransformTeaching.org
and click on “Interview your grandmother”
TinyURL.com/SunEdPersonalHistory
http://tinyurl.com/sunedproject

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Education personal history ebook by Enrique Gonzalez, former principal