BRAGG SHEET

1. Special Interests and Hobbies: Basketball, chess, drawing

2. Strengths (Academic or other-wise): Strong-minded, persistent, smart, hard worker, helpful, good listener, ability to multi-task, active in class, great public speaker, outgoing, proficient in history and English

3. Weakness (Academic or other-wise) Which would you like to correct: Need tutoring with math, not my strongest subject

4. Sports (Note varsity teams and any awards):  Varsity Basketball (Inglewood High School), Football, Volleyball, Track & Field at (Culver City High School)

5. School Activities (Clubs-offices held, if any, committees, chorus, dramatic productions, trips, etc....): Youth Usher Board Vice President of the Southern District, (YBS) Young Black Scholars

6.Community Activities (Church, Volunteer work, Jobs, Travel, Leagues, etc.....): I attend Holman United Methodist Church. I worked in Assembly member Steven Bradford's office of the 51st District in the Inglewood City hall, I handled various task such as answering calls, dealing with constituents, creating awards, and participating in various community events under Steven Bradford. I also worked at (H.A.X) Hanger Athletic Xchange in the Hawthorne airport. This is basically an airport hanger that was converted into a six court gym with a weight room, restaurant, shoe store etc.. It's a place where you go to work out, NBA players also go there to hold clinics and to stay in shape over the off season. I helped run a college basketball league with my coach known as the "SayNo Classics". I volunteered at Forte Animal Rescue Shelter, Wheel Chairs For Kids, Venice(Clean the Beach), and Feed the homeless(Skid Row). I traveled to Arizona, Nevada, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Milwaukee, New Mexico.

7. Honors(Special Awards, etc...):  President's Educations Awards Program: Outstanding Academic Achievement(2009,2010)

8. College Major: Psychology/ Human Services

9. Possible Career: (LCSW) Licensed Clinical Social Worker

10. List colleges/universities you plan or have applied to: Howard University, Florida A&M, Cal State Fullerton, Dominguez Hills, Northridge, ASU(Arizona State University), Baylor, Drexel University(Philadelphia) 

11. Please add any obstacles you overcome: I overcame bringing my GPA from below a 2.5 to a 3.5 , and understanding life issues.

Dont Get Caught

Have you tried to listen to your music in class, knowing it's against the rules? Always

wondered why you got caught? Well follow these simple steps and you will succeed. You can't

just throw on your headphones, play your music, and not expect to get busted. You must be

stealth in the process, watching every moment and listening out for anything that could get you

caught up. You would think that this would be an easy task, but it takes skill and precision.

Ms.Araya literally has eyes in the back of her head and she's always waiting for someone to slip

up. Be careful, if you don't follow these steps precisely to a tee, you will get caught!

            Walking into Ms. Araya's room is the simplest part of the process. Once you walk in, you

greet her and then find a seat, typically facing away from her desk. It shouldn't be hard to find a

seat since the class size is relatively small. The next step is really important so pay close

attention. If you are a boy, you must put on a hoody or jacket to the cover the headphones. Girls

must let their hair down to cover the headphones as well. If you have made it this far then you're

doing pretty good. Now take out your phone/iPod along with the headphones. If you want to be

totally incognito, you can put you headphones under your shirt or jacket so the wires are not

visible. Next, make sure your volume is not too high, more in the middle about fifty percent.

Keep an eye out for Ms. Araya and Brown because they both like to pop up at random times.

Now the moment you've all been waiting for, press play and enjoy your music.

            Congrats on your successful mission. Ms.Araya will never suspect that you are listening

to music. Now you won't ever have a dull moment in her class, as long as you have your handy

iPod. No more getting your headphones or phone taken. That's in the past, your living in the

future now, not getting caught up!

High School Standards?

            Standards definitely should not be raised in high schools. The problem is not the

standards but, more about the students not willing to learn while in school. No matter how bad a

school may be, anyone can learn in any situation so there is no excuse. In most cases, school

standards are set by the state, so where should the blame be put if students are not learning? Or

maybe this is just a cover up for something much bigger!

            The standards are not the problem and the students are. The students are the ones that

make up a school and if there not willing to learn then the teachers cannot do their job. Thus

eventually bringing the schools standards lower than what they should be. A school can only

function properly if the students come prepared and ready to learn. The standards are just there to

keep students from straying away from their task and staying on track. Once students are on task

the teacher can do his/her job, and the classroom will learn a lot more as a whole. No matter

what you do, if a student is unwilling to learn, then raising the standards would have no positive

impact on schools. Standards can only do so much for a school.

            In every school no matter what the standard is, you always have those students that

succeed and those that fail regardless of how much help they receive. An education can be

obtained in any given time, place, or situation. Students can learn anywhere with some guidance

and structure, whether it be the worst of the worst of schools. Raising standards would not solve

any issue in the educational system, only create more burdens and headaches. California's

dropout rates are on the rise, and raising the standards would only make that issue worse. Why

continue to escalate a problem, when you could simply resolve it.

            The standards in high school should not be raised at all. Raising the standards would not

solve any problem in the education system. If students aren't learning  enough(going by what

people say supposedly) then what makes you think that they will do any better with higher

standards. Students must want to learn on their own and if they fail to do that , then there is

nothing more a person could do. Don't raise the standards!

uniforms

Public school students should not wear uniforms at all. Uniforms can bring upon so much

unwanted attention to students that they do not need. Uniforms can make students targets for

bullies from other schools, become a financial burden for families, and students a social outcast.

This would eventually do more harm than good, creating problems that could lead to incurable

issues. Why put any student through these harsh conditions?

            Uniforms definitely can make students a target for bullies at other schools. Wearing these

does put a big x over your head saying "come pick on me". Especially now a days, where bullies

take things to the extreme. When a bully sees another kid of the same age or younger, they

instantly see them as an easy target. Bullies have no emotions, whether your small or big, or

short or tall, wearing a uniform attracts the wrong crowd. Not only does it attract bullies but, it

becomes a major financial burden for the family.

            What is the solution to the families that cannot afford the uniform package? Without

uniform, the family could cloth their kids with less expensive clothing to save money. With

uniform in affect at public schools, families would have to spend more than 100 dollars. When

shopping, you cannot just buy one pair, you need one for each school day. Not to mention, not all

students life uniforms. Families already have other problems in their life, and they do not need to

worry about how they are going to afford this year's uniform package.

            Lastly it would make students a social outcast from their peers at other schools. Growing

up, everyone wants to fit in, to be a part of the "In" crowd. But how can you if you're the only

one wearing a uniform out of the whole group? Kids then begin to pick on you and talk about the

things you have, also known as "shooting". For most kids, they do not know how to take jokes,

especially if they are verbalized in a hateful manner. As you can see wearing a uniform is just the

remote to the TV,  it's just the surface of a much bigger issue.

            No one in their right mind would agree to wearing a uniform, let alone at a public  school.

Uniforms cause many more problems than one can imagine. Why put kids through the

experience of being picked on at/outside of school and becoming  the target for bullies. Uniforms

are not for every school especially public. What may work for some may not work for others.

Public school students should not wear uniforms.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE

            There is no possible way that life exists on other planets in the universe. I definitely do

not believe Extraterrestrial life is non-fictional. If there was a such things as life on other planets,

then why haven't we had any contact with them, and photos presented, or any video/audio

recordings. Those would all be logical things to back your claim and persuade the public. This is

how I know life on other planets and "extraterrestrial life" does not exist!

            This discussion has gone on for years about whether there is extraterrestrial life on other

planets. Why hasn't there been any contact? If you are going to persuade me, I will need to see

some extraordinary proof. This whole discussion seems life a story/TV show that comes on the

sci-fi channel. Anyone with common sense can figure out what is real and what is not ,

especially when it come too farfetched claims life this one. If there has not been any substantial

proof why believe what another person says or what the media portrays.

            Why hasn't there been any photos? If someone were to show me a couple of photos that

seemed legit, it might sway my decision on this topic. Sadly, once again, the people who are in

charge of extraterrestrial life studies have failed to do so. With no proof in any shape or form,

how could anyone expect to persuade someone to share their point of view.  Photos could

possibly make a big change in this topic , if they were valid. Any kind of documentation or

written proof would probably change anyone's mind.

            Lastly, why hasn't there been any video or audio recordings of this so called life on other

planets? Videos would definitely change people's minds, simply because a video is hard to

change, especially on this subject. Audio on the other hand is not as much of a game changer as a

video, but it could still get the job done. Most people believe what they see, and if a video was

brought forth as proof, this discussion would be totally different.

            I Still believe that there is no possible way that extraterrestrial life exists on other planets.

I am a strong minded person, once my mind is made up, it is hard to change my views points

unless you have some undeniable facts. With no video/audio recordings, photos, or contact, it is

hard for a person like me to just believe what other people say. So, until I see any of their three

things, my view point will stay the same and I hope yours will too.