9. Given the authority to establish a holiday, what would you choose to commemorate? Why? What would the celebration look like?

If I had the authority to establish a holiday I would choose to commemorate the day that Muammar Gaddafi died because it is a symbol that people working together can overthrow a corrupt government where people did not have a voice of opinion. Although the death of someone like Gaddafi should not be celebrated, it represented the end of a dictatorship. It would remember everyone that an oppressing government should not be allowed to reign with terror any country in the world. The 20th of October would be remembered as the day the masses stood up for themselves against tyranny. 

12. Your life is a movie. Describe the first 15 minutes.

Metal music in the background. A u-haul truck in the border, the sun in nowhere to be seen. My family in the car behind the u-haul truck looking excited, terrified, and confused. I look about nine years old. I’m in Ms. Eddy’s class, years after the greatest change of my life. I sit in her class reflecting about what my life has gone through, where I am compared to where I was, and I want to keep going in this path. I get home still thinking, still listening to music, listening to the changes in the songs that go from Metallica riffs to Jagger asking Angie to keep moving forward but, should I keep moving forward in this path? My dad seems tired of having to work two jobs to support this family yet, there is a smile in his face. The next scene would be in my room with books sitting in front of me but my eyes travel from the textbook the my guitar, and back to my textbook, and then they look at the time, then they look back at the textbook. What would I pick?
I consider that to be the first 15 minutes of my life because they would mirror my life decisions, the different experiences that I have gone through and it would thoroughly set the plot of, what is he going to choose?

13. Write a letter to your future college roommate introducing yourself and your background.

Dear Roomate,

Hello, my name is Francisco Mejia. I am from San Diego, California. I have a Mexican background since both of my parents are from Mexico. My culture and traditions are strongly present in my life.

Coming from a Mexican culture and set of values and morals, I am a very tolerant person. I am not concerned about what your believes are as long as they do not affect me, or my education. Probably, just like me, you want to succeed in life, and we could help each other succeed through collaboration, helping each other.

I wish we have a great year in college and we accomplish our goals. I will do my best to help you and help myself.

Sincerely,

Francisco Mejia

14. Please describe your reactions/ideas to the following quote: "He does not possess wealth, it possesses him."

I think that this quote means that money and greed control the world, everyone. People who have money do their best to keep it and make more profit. While people, who do not have money, try to do anything they can to obtain some of that lionized green paper. Fortunately we live in a capitalist society where doing everything possible to be wealthy is valid and it is not frowned upon. Wealth is the key to happiness, my parents decided to move to the United States to have a better life, which unconsciously means better jobs that lead to a stable economic life creating peace of mind and releasing the stress created by debt and other aspects of economy. Unfortunately, the worldwide economic crisis has destroyed the “American Dream”, which has as basis a better economic life. The American dream is the best example of being possessed by wealth. Immigrants overcome any obstacle in their way to the U.S. so they can send money to their family members who are still in the developing countries so they can have a better life. The possession of wealth is indoctrinated to us from birth; the mindset that more expensive is better has always been present, at least in my life, but, as I have matured mentally and I have created my own ideals, I have come to the conclusion that better lifestyle is not determined by how much money it costs. I have a house, I have a family and I have an education, while people with wealth sometimes lack the most important aspects of life like family, sometimes by unfortunate circumstances but sometimes because their greed has destroyed their empathy, they do not realize that not everyone has the same opportunities to succeed.

15. What is the most valuable contribution you could make to a college campus? Explain.

The most valuable contribution I could make to a college campus would be my attitude. I always want to help people and offer support if needed. The college life can be hard and sometimes students need help on the lessons and I would be willing to help at any time. This is an important trait because many students who do not finish college have problems finding help with their classes. Another contribution would be my culture. Unfortunately there is not many Hispanics at some colleges. I would be honored to be able to introduce my culture into the present campus life, my morals and values, as well as our entertaining traditions that would benefit other students by learning about a different culture. This would help students erase speculations they assume about a culture. These as my contributions to a college campus would help students in their college life but also after college as for example with my help they will able to understand a lesson that they did not understand and help spread the knowledge by being able to explain it to other people outside of college or to other students. By introducing my culture to other students they will relate to other people from the same culture and traditions as me. I would offer students an alternate source of knowledge to issues concerning Hispanics or Latinos. The contributions that I could offer to a college campus are important and difficult to provide.  

16. Explain a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dillema you have faced and its impact on you.

I think that the most significant experience in my life has been me moving from Tijuana to the United States. When I moved to the United States my life changed completely, I had to learn everything starting with another language. As I learned a new language, I learned a new culture. I learned the new rapid lifestyle, every one moves at a faster pace. The most difficult thing for me was growing up into a culture that I did not know anything about. This is was a significant experience for me but I will also consider this an achievement because I was able to adapt quickly and effectively. I consider my life after the change from Tijuana to the United States a success because I have been able to obtain more opportunities toward my education.  

17. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

An issue of national concern to me is the drug war in Mexico. The drug war in Mexico affects me because I have family living in Tijuana and my parents as well as me have an uneasy feeling when going to Tijuana to visit them also, I have suffered from the crime created by the drug war.

A few months ago my godmother, who owns a small business in Tijuana, was kidnapped and we suffered a lot from not knowing where she was and how was she through that time. It was difficult for me because I realized that it can happen to everyone and that the crime is almost unstoppable. Although I wished that my family would not suffer from the crime, my sister, which is what created the most fear and anger, suffered from the crime created by the drug war. While she was with her boyfriend at restaurant in Tijuana, thieves stole her bag from her boyfriend’s car and broke the car’s window to grab it. Then a person told them that they were breaking into their car but that they had guns so it was not an option to try to do something. Although nothing happened to her, in her bag she had many important possessions like her driver’s license, her passport and her cellphone. These recent issues have created a fear in most of my family because we do not want any one in our family to go through something similar.