The Pythagorean Theorem

Being a good student is overcoming the difficult challenges you encounter.  As a student in Fast West, just like in life, I have encountered many challenges. The hardest struggle for me so far was learning how to do the Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagorean Theorem was hard for me to learn at Fast West because the numbers became letters. So understanding the letters and where to put them was kind of hard to get at first. It took me a month to get it. By February, I had it down pat. With the help from my math teacher Mr. Ben and the time I spend at home studying, I achieved one of my small goals of learning the Pythagorean Theorem.

Pythagorean Theorem was very hard for me to understand. It was the first time I ever heard or saw something like that. So learning it was very challenging. For example, it’s hard to know when to put the number in for the letters or when to square root. It all goes back to knowing the basic math skills. Pythagorean Theorem is used as the same basic math skills I already knew. Even though it looked crazy, after Mr. Ben broke it down to me it was easy as multiplication. I’m a better student because I took the time to learn it even though it was hard. Now when I face something new and challenging I know I will be able to overcome it.

In the future, I will use my experience with Pythagorean Theorem to show my girls how to never back down from something challenging. If you ever run into a challenging math problem don’t go in to it thinking you can’t do it. Take a deep breath and remember you have the math skill to learn it.

               

              Pamela 

How I Met My Best Friend

My friend Kim and I became friends when we were 10 years old. Our parents introduced us over a family dinner. My mom told us to get ready to go to dinner. We got ready to head up north for our family dinner. It was out of the blue that we were going out to eat. When we got there, we were shocked to see that we were at somebody’s house. Mom said, “I would like for you to meet someone.” The person my mom introduced us to was her boyfriend Ira. Ira had 5 kids of his own there, one of whom was the same age as me. Her name was Kim. At first we didn’t get along at all because we were forced to be there.

Soon after that dinner, they were married. Kim and I were the same age, so once our parents were married, we were forced to play together, which made us dislike each other even more. We came up with a plan to break our parents up. The plan we came up with was for us to keep fighting every time we were around each other. We yelled, took each other’s stuff, hit each other, but our parents were like, “That’s what siblings do.”   

After a year, one weekend Kim came over crying because a girl from her school took her lunch money, and we sat in my room and talk about it. I was like, “you should’ve knocked her out.”

Kim said, “I told the teacher.”

“And what did the teacher do?” I said.

“Nothing,” Kim said. We laughed as we were coming up with plans to get the girl when she went back to school. As we sat there in my room laughing and joking, we realized we like a lot of the same stuff.

Over the next two years, Kim and I were glued to the hip. We even went to the same school in the eighth grade. Our plan never worked. It’s been over 20 years. Kim and I are still friends, and our parents are still going strong.

 As time went on, we became so close that at one point we were roommates. I had my daughter Jai and Kim was pregnant; we were loving our lives for a few months. Until I got pregnant with Jazzy, that’s when we went our separate ways. We went our separate ways because my kid’s father had asked me to marry him. Kim’s relationship was moving her away to North Chicago.

Today we are still friends. I am the godmother to her son, my baby boy, the son I always wanted. “Lol” Our kids still spend the summer together.  After 20 years, we can still call on each other and be right there for one another no matter what.

Pamela

Learning to Drive

Two years ago in the spring time my kids and I were over at my sister’s house hanging out. We were laughing and joking about our kids and how we can’t wait for them to drive. My niece was sitting on the bed and said, “Mom can you teach me how to drive?” My sister was like, “that’s what driver’s ed is for.” We laughed. Tania was like “mom for real.” Takka said no because it is stressful teaching someone to drive. So, Tania looked at me. “Auntie Michell, can you teach me?”  The look on my face was like, girl please, but my mouth said, “Yeah, I’ll teach you. It’s nothing.”

So, we went out at 2:30 in the morning. “Tania, the 1^st step is to check your mirror,” I told her. “Next, put your seat belt on.”

“Auntie Michell, what about the music?”

“What about it?” I said.

 “Don’t you think we need it?”

 By that time Tania was giving me a major headache. So, I said that was enough for today. On the way home, I was trying to teach her the importance of driving. And it’s going to take a period of time to learn, for instance: “Tania, it took me a year to learn how to drive”.

 So, over the next two months, Tania was so negative about driving like wanting the music on while driving, not wanting to stay in the parking lot, not listening to me about when to stop or back up. So for a while I stop teaching her how to drive. So when we got back to my sister’s house my niece starts telling my sister what happened by exaggerating the whole story. By the following spring time in April, I was ready to teach her again.  It was somewhat of a tradition for the women to teach the kids to drive in our family. So, I was back on road, “FOR NOW”.

So this time instead of putting her right in the car I did what my mom did to us when teaching us to drive. We made cars out of chairs. Of course, Tania had issues about it. So we stopped. Now two years later she still can’t drive, so I’m thinking about taking her out again. It was nice at first getting to know my teenage niece. I will never teach anybody else. My sister was right; teaching somebody is “VERY STRESSFUL!”

Pamela