Journal 6 by Cole

     After reading both narratives, I found there to be many things that you can takeaway from each one. Esperanza shows throughout that life is not always perfect, no matter how much you want it to be. Even though you grow up in these circumstances, it does not mean that you must live this way forever. My biggest takeaway from Ismael is to always keep hope. You can make it out of many situations as long as you continue to push and keep going. The one thing that I do not want to forget about Ismael is his survival skills. Against all odds, he continued to fight and managed to stay alive. He was put in a very tough situation and did not let it defeat him. Esperanza's positive attitude towards the end of the book is something that I do not want to forget. "One day I will pack my bags of books and paper. One day I will say goodbye to Mango. I am too strong for her to keep me here forever." (Cisneros 110). If you can have her determination, I believe you are able to accomplish any goal you may have.

     The documentary we watched was very interesting. Rafe was very engaged with his students and did many things to make their education enjoyable. His teaching styles were very unique, something that I never had in my elementary school days. I believe he made a big impact on the students lives. It makes me wonder what kind of impact it would have had on me, have I had a teacher like him in elementary school. One thing that stuck out to be the most was the class motto, "There are no shortcuts". Although his teaching styles were very exciting for the students, they understood that there was still work to be done. They could not succeed in anything in their life without putting the work in.