Reality Shows

Linda Manzano

Mrs. Croker

College Composition

January 29, 2012

Reality Shows

            I personally am not addicted to watching reality shows, but since I have young children; I watch reality shows. I have learned that reality shows are not bad at all but I will always prefer to watch my novela’s ( Mexican soap operas). Reality shows that I have watch and have found to like are Made and True Life. I think that some reality shows are positive because show’s like True Life can teach children and adults about problems different people face. True Life is a show that in each episode features a different topic about people suffering with a problem. True Life can teach people a lot, for instance one episode of True Life was about people with schizophrenia. Watching these show helped me learn about schizophrenia and get an insight in the life of someone who suffers from schizophrenia. True life opened my mind, I used to think people with schizophrenia were crazy and dangerous to be around with but watching the show made me realize I was totally wrong.

 Another show which in my opinion is both positive and interesting is Made. The show is about teenagers who want to be changed; for example, a shy quiet girl wants to be made into a prom queen. In the process of  being made into a prom queen the girl will overcome her shyness and gain more friends and she might or might not become prom queen but in the end will have changed in a positive way. I think that Made is one of the few shows I like watching because it gives the message, that  people can change and achieve what they want. In some Made episodes the person undergoing a change does not always reach their goal, showing that in life we don’t always reach our goals but we must see the positive changes we have made and keep trying to reach our goal. I think that show’s like True Life and Made benefit society because they send positive messages but it is not always the case, other shows send horrible messages to society.

There are shows like Sweet Sixteen and Jersey Shore that send out the wrong message. Sweet Sixteen is usually, but not always about bratty girls who disrespects their parents but end up getting a big sixteen party. Sweet Sixteen sends out the wrong message in my opinion, it tells girls that in order to be cool one must impress their friends with a big party. While watching Sweet Sixteen with my daughter I have not seen the birthday girl spend time with their family members. The girls are usually more concern about what their friends think, than they are spending their birthday with their family. Sweet Sixteen makes girls think that the superficial things are what matter the most than spending quality time with loved ones. I don’t even know where to get started, Jersey Shore sends out a horrible message to our youth. This show Jersey Shore makes it okay to run around having sex with people. Overall I think that Reality shows can benefit society and harm society, depending on the message the reality show is sending to society.

My Fast Food Habits

Fast food was not a big part of my childhood, I grew up eating homemade food. Since I grew up in Mexico the only fast food places I would go to were the hot dogs stands , at the corner of my house and little businesses around my neighborhood.  I would eat fast food only once a month, the rest of the time I would eat homemade meals. My favorite fast food  place was this hot dog stand around the corner of my house. My family did not have money to spare, so I would visit this hot dog stand once a month. The one time a month I would eat at the hot dog stand was because my father would send money from California to my mother to cover our monthly expenses and my mom would give me a little bit of money. When I did visit the hot dog stand I would buy a hot dog with mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, onions and bacon. I would also buy myself a coca cola, to go along with my hot dog. When I would eat my hot dog I would feel as if I was enjoying an extravagant meal because to me that simple hot dog was packed full of flavor and the coca cola just topped it off and made me feel as if I were in food heaven. I would have visited the hot dog stand more often if I had money to spare but in my household we could not afford to eat fast food. As a child my family never went out to eat because we were seven altogether and at the time it would have added up and seemed expensive. There was a major change in my fast food habits when I moved to California. I went from eating fast food once a month to eating fast food four times a week. I fell in love with fried chicken and mashed potatoes, I would visit Popeye’s and Kentucky every week.

 I currently eat fast food three times a week. If you are wondering I still go eat fried chicken. I eat Kentucky fried chicken at least once a week and my love for Kentucky fried chicken had been passed down to my little one. My eight year old daughter and me both enjoy eating crispy, grilled and original fried chicken with succulent coleslaw. I have made it habit to that with every meal I eat from Kentucky a get a Manzanita sol soda to go along with it. I take my family to eat out every Friday to Toppers or to In-n-out, that serves as a time for me to bond with all family. I have been taking out my family to eat every Friday since when I was a child I did not have the chance to go out and eat with my family. I sometimes relay on fast food to feed my children and myself because I am busy going to work, college, and driving my brother to work. I plan to slowly break away with my fast food habits. I know that breaking with my fast food habits will be hard, not just for me but for my whole family, but we will take baby steps and slowly cut back on the fast food.

My Fast Food Habits

A little bit of myself

Hello everyone, my name is Linda Yvonne Manzano . I was born in Los Angeles California, however grew up in Mexico. My mother decided to move to Mexico and take me with her because she wanted me to grow up with family, something we did not have here in California.  Growing up I missed out on my dad, because he was here in Oxnard California working. I moved back to California when I was twenty five years old, and began to adapt to my new environment.  It is surely a good thing, that most people in Oxnard California speak Spanish, because that made me feel a little bit less homesick.  Getting used to my new environment was a difficult task, because of the language barrier. I began to learn english, it took me considerable amount of time because most of my friends  only spoke Spanish. As time went by I learn more and more english, each and every day.  The hardest thing that has happened to me in California is my father’s death. When I moved to California, I got to bond with my father. It might not seem like a big deal, but for me it meant the world because I grew up far apart from him. My father died two years ago, and it saddens me that I only shared a little bit of time with my father. I feel that living in Mexico cheated me the opportunity to grow up with my father.

I am a preschool teacher and I love my job. I like working with children because they are a joy and are like little sponges ready to learn. I try my best to teach and help the kids at my center. I feel that the most rewarding thing I get out of being a preschool teacher is watching students grow up. I watch children grow they come to my center 2 years old and leave five years old. I am also a mother of three children; two girls and a boy. My Daughter the oldest will soon be graduating from High School. I am emotionally getting myself ready, to the idea of not seeing my daughter everyday because she will head out to a university. Lately I have been teaching my two younger children to do chores, because they will soon take over my older daughter’s chores. I am going to Oxnard College, I am taking two classes this semester english and math. I think that I am challenging myself because I am not the brightest student when it comes to math, but I know that through much work and determination I will be able to be successful in both my two classes. I  feel excited that I only need four classes to transfer into a university.

In the future I see myself have transferred from Oxnard college to CSUCI. I see that I will have earn a BA in child development and maybe have renovated my house so that I could open a daycare at my house. I also see myself having enough money to buy a new car.