MOM

When we fall, who is there to pick us up? Mom. When get sick, who is there to care for us? Mom. Mothers have always been looked at as the care-givers. Children learn from their mothers and recieve strength from them. I recieved more than that. I've seen with my own eyes the struggles she went threw, I heard the stories of her life. But my mother is the greatest influence in my life.

My mother always wanted me to understand the lessons of her mistakes. My mother never finished school because she had to care for her mother, learning from her mistakes has influnced me to do better i school to make her proud. My mother struggles day-in and day-out to make ends meet, and she never complains. My mother has pushed me to finish school, and now I will be the first of my mother's children to graduate.

My mom has always worked so hard her whole life, and still continues till this day. My mom tells me that she wants me to do better, to graduate, go to college, and have a good career. She pushes me to appreciate the oppurtunities that I have, that she never had. She pushes me to be all that I can be, that "If I put my mind into it, I can achieve anything". She gives me her strength, her wisdom, her confidence, and her love. She wouldn't push me so hard if she didn't love me.

In conclusion, my mother went threw a lot of heartache but she learned from them and gave me important advice. She pushed me to be all that I can be, she told me her mistakes so I can do better. Because of everything my mother does, she is the greatest influence I can ever have.

Financial Aid

Financial aid is intended to make up the difference between what your family can afford to pay and the cost of college. Students in their senior year are recommended to apply for financial aid.

How the system works:
-You and your family are expected to contribute to the cost of college to the extent that you’re able. 
-If your family is unable to afford the entire cost (like most families), financial aid is available to help you pay for college.


Grants&Scholarships:
Also called gift aid. Does not have to be paid back and not needed to work to earn. Comes from the federal and state government, and from individual colleges. 


Loans
Must be repaid. Payment begins after graduation, Don't borrow more than you need or can afford to pay back. Loans based on financial need are low-interest loans sponsored by the federal government. 


Work
Student employment and work-study aid helps pay for costs such as books, supplies, and personal expenses. Provides you with a part-time job to help meet financial needs.

Senior Year!!

YYAAAYYYY! SENIOR YEAR!! :)

My senior year is very simple. I plan to get accepted into the University of Houston, get all my community hours,manage a good GPA,and GRADUATE on time!!! But I know it wont be that easy, senior year is never easy. The first thing I plan to do next year is to complete my admission application to UH as soon as possible, but to also fill applications to back-up colleges like Texas A&M, UH Downtown, and others that I may be interested in. I still plan to be a member of the National Honor Society. Next year I also plan on getting a job to help pay for senior dues, graduation packages and whatever needs to be paid for during senior year. To get into the college I want to attend I must rank in the top 20% so keeping my grades up is a must. I am the first of my mother's children to make it to 12th grade, so senior year will be very special to me and I will do anything to be the first to go to college.

CLASS OF 2012!!!!!!!!

University of Texas at San Antonio

GPA NEEDED:

Requirements are primarily based on high school ranking and SAT/ACT scores. If a person does not meet the requirements, the Office of Admissions will perform a review, they will consider and evaluate honors or AP courses, GPA, extracurricular activities, employment, leadership abilities, supplemental documents, and family obligations/challenges the student may have been threw during high school.

SAT/ACT SCORES NEEDED:

Critical reading and math score of at least 1070, at least a score of 500 on each component. 

OR

ACT composite score of 23, no less than 19 on English and Math

Texas A&M

GPA NEEDED:

Top 25% of their class

SAT OR ACT SCORES: 

Combined math and reading score of at least 1300, with a test score of at least 600 in each of the components.

OR

Achieve a composite ACT score of at least 30 with a test score of at least 27 in ACT Math and English. Students must take the component SAT or/and ACT in order to be considered.

University of Houston

GPA NEEDED:

Have to graduating in the top 20% of their class.

SAT OR ACT SCORE NEEDED :

Fall 2012

Admissions completed by December 1

Rank: top 15%, SAT: no minimum, ACT: no minimum 

Rank: top 16-25%, SAT:1000, ACT: 21

Rank: top 26-50%, SAT: 1100, ACT: 24

Rank: 51% and lower, individual review

Admissions completed after December 1

Rank: top 10%, no minimum

Rank: top 11-25%, SAT: 1000, ACT:21

Rank: top 26-50%, SAT: 1100, ACT:24

Rank: 51% and lower, individual review

Summer/Fall 2011 and Spring/Summer 2012

Admissions completed by December 1

Rank: top 20%, no minimum

Rank: top 21-50%, SAT:1000, ACT:21

Rank: 51% and lower, individual review

Admissions completed after December 1

Rank: top 10%, no minimum

Rank: top 11% and lower: individual review

Reflection

Over the year I produced many works of my writing experience. At the beginning of the school year I knew nothing about rhetorical, synthesis, and argument essays. As we started learning how to write those kind of essays, my writing began to get better. The essays were challenging but it pushed me to be a better writer, so my skills improved. At the beginning of the year I wasn't the writer that I am now, but this year I learned how to write different types of essays. Learning how to write those essays,and learning new vocabulary has helped me improved as a writer.

GPS Rubric for second semester essay

Sandra Gomez Death Penalty">

Second Semester Essay

Sandra Gomez

Ms.Devaney P#5

4/4/11

THE COSTS OF THE DEATH PENALTY

“..I didn’t realize what I've done till i heard the sound. Like somebody drowning. Screaming under water..” (pg. 244) Perry Smith from Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” brutally describes how he slit the throat of Mr.Clutter. Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock broke in to the Clutter home with intentions of stealing money but instead they murdered Mr.Clutter, his wife and his two teenage children. How can one not be accountable for this type of crime? The death penalty should no longer be used because it is costly and it is atrocious to execute a person who is mentally unfit.

Capital punishment is the lawful infliction of death as a punishment and since ancient times it has been used for a wide variety of offenses. Since 1977, the majority of death row defendants have been executed for killing white victims, even though African-Americans make up about half of all homicide victims. The death penalty is racially biased. The death penalty disregards mental illness, the execution of those who are mentally ill is prohibited against international law, however, dozens of prisoners have been executed despite suffering from a mental illness.

According to Dr.Jones, the psychiatric doctor assigned to the Clutter murder case in “In Cold Blood”, he testified that Perry Smith showed “definite signs of severe mental issues” (pg.296). He also says that Perry  “shows mild early signs of a disorder of his thought processes. He has a poor ability to organize his thinking..”(pg.297). During the time of the trial, the M’Naghten Rule in Kansas stated all a psychologist can do during a trial is to testify whether or not a defendant could tell right from wrong at the time of the crime. Dr.Jones testified that Perry did not know right from wrong during the Clutter family murder. In the end, Perry Smith was still executed when proved mentally unfit.

To deny a child of an education is, I believe, the most criminal act  that can be done. For many years an eduction has been thought of as the most important opportunity that anyone can receive, so shouldn't the government do what everything in their power to protect that opportunity? At this moment schools are suffering budget cuts,program cuts, and teacher cuts. How can students receive an education when schools are losing money? While kids are suffering from the governments mistakes, its costing the government over 2 million dollars to execute ONE death-row inmate, compared to the costs of keeping the inmate in prison for life. Is the execution of ONE inmate worth the education of MILLIONS of students? The money that is being spent on one inmate could be used to save schools, could be used to save student’s futures, could be used to save generations of future students.

It is easy to agree that the death penalty is an “easy way out” to get rid of criminals. A lot of people support the death penalty because they feel that killing convicted murderers will satisfy their need for justice and/or vengeance. Another reason is that they believe that once a convicted murderer is executed, their is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone. Those arguments but it cannot be forgotten that it is brutal and inhumane way of justice.

In conclusion, the death penalty is a lawful punishment of death, it is widely supported because of the safety of the community, and the victims believe that it will bring them justice of their lost one. Many people do not realize the effect that the death penalty has. The main effect that it is very costly, the money that is being spent on executing of an inmate could be wisely used to support schools. The death penalty should be abolished because of how it is biased against the mentally ill and very expensive.

GPS Rubric for first semester essay

Sandra Gomez This I Believe Rubric">

First Semester Essay

Sandra Gomez

Ms.Lopez-Garcia per.7

9/11/10

This I Believe

I believe in education.

Who wants to wake up early every morning? Not me! Well I used to think that way. In middle school and my freshman year of high school I despised every minute of being there. I hated waking up early and going to a place where I felt an endless sleep and I couldn't do anything about it, it made me cranky. I guess it was my fault I was lacking in school, it was no one's fault but mine, and the fact that I felt like I wasn't smart didn't help either. It used to feel like a hell on earth, a place where you're always told what to do and yelled at if it's not done correctly. I was only in school as a request from my mom, but I didn't understand why until now.

It all changed when I had a deep conversation with my mother. It was during my winter break of my freshman year and we were walking to the store down the street. She asked me how school was going and I told her that it was not so great. So, she started talking about her teenage years (something she rarely does). When my mom was around my age my grandmother had gotten sick. My mom was in her sophomore year of high school when it all happened. My grandmother had no other daughters to care for her, my mom's sisters ran off with their boyfriends, so my mom was the only one there for her. My mother had to find a job, and as the pressure of school and work fell on top of her, she had no choice but to drop out. She never had the chance to go back to school after that. So here she is now, at the age of 50 working her hardest to make ends meet. She is a strong, hardworking woman, but even my mom has limits. 

Every day you can see the tiredness in her eyes, but she doesn't complain, she makes sacrifices. I understand why, it's all because she didn't go back to school. If my mom had gone to school she wouldn't face the struggles she has to face now. She could have finished high school and made something of herself, she did what she had to do at that time, and I don't blame her for that. Parents always say "we want what's best for you, we want you to have a better life then we did", I didn't get that message till now; I learned a lot from hearing  her hardship.

I learned that I shouldn't take for granted the opportunity to learn and make my life better. After our conversation I began to pick up my grades and actually focus on school. I realized what I wanted to be and what I didn't. I didn't want to be in the same position as my mother was in, I can do better, I can make her proud, and all I have to do is believe. I believe in education and the power and opportunities it can give to one person.