Memoirs-Course 2- Week 2

The Story's Path

Think about a moment in your life where you can clearly recognize at least five things that happened earlier in time with a direct impact on that moment. For instance, you might write about your first day at a new job, and consider the interview process, learning one of the main skills you'd apply in that job, graduating with the degree required for that job, etc. Consider the order of events, and how you got from one to the next. Now, in 500-750 words or so, write a version of these events where that sequencing is out of order. Keep in mind the reader's experience: what is the best way to unfurl your narrative to make your reader feel included?

Sometimes having dreams is difficult. They do not have a good background. It is normal to be walking around, just chilling, being on my own inner thoughts when suddenly a wild dream starts to infect my mind. I normally feel how this starts to reach my heart and something I make an insane commitment with something strange or odd. I was just failing my first subject ever. The professor was a dumb ass, I hate his subject. He was such a dumb ass. Coming from a public university the rules are very strict. I was unable to make any interchange with other universities due to having a failing subject. It was the first requirement. Dumb teacher. Fuck that guy. I wanted to go to France during my university time. I was learning French at the time. Learning French was a difficult topic, mom and dad did not have a dime to spare. Dad did not have a job; he was sleeping in his truck. Dad left Mexico 8 years ago. Mom was the only and main breadwinner. I needed to find the cheapest school to teach me French. I found one that for 50 bucks I have a class daily. Mayra was next to me while I was talking to the women in charge of receiving people to France. They were explaining to me that my university was not able to participate, and my nationality was a little more difficult. Behind me a fucking rich girl. She belonged to the most expensive university in Mexico. The women changed her tone and explained to her that Monterrey Institute of Technology had a special offer with a special scholarship. I felt my heart to be shattered into pieces. The envy consumed my soul. That was the last time I ever tried it out. I understand that choosing French and my dream was never going to come true. Leaving in France was not something able for me. I was 18 and dreaming to go to France, now I am 24 and my boss told me: “Yves, you can choose. Either Frankfurt or Paris. What do you want? I am letting you decide.” Arriving at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France. I was hearing my favorite song of How I met your mother. A song that says: “Let your heartbeat fast”, after landing and getting outside the airplane I called my father. I know it is expensive. I know it is going to be weird, the time zone changes were going to affect his dream…but I need to say something out loud: “Dad I am in France. Your son made it. I am safe.” I am going to call him. I once pay 50 bucks of extra cell pone service due fuckingSpotify. Dad does not have WhatsApp or Facebook. I will call him to his cell phone and tell him. I am here and I am okay.It does not matter how much AT&T charges me. I am going to pay, but I want my voice to be heard by my dad. Dad started to cry at the San Antonio airport. He was proud. His first born was a grown man. A good engineer, even when he got no money, even when he was unable to provide, still his family turned out fine. Thanks dad.

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Rubric

How well were you able to follow the narrative and understand the "true" chronological sequence of events? Did any element seem confusing or out of place?

You did a great job of conveying the emotional highs and lows of your journey. However, the sequence of events was a bit hard to follow at times. For instance, the transition between your university struggles and your eventual success in France could be clearer. Consider using more transitional phrases or sentences to guide the reader through the timeline. Overall, your story is compelling, but a bit more clarity in the sequence would enhance the reader's experience.

Rate this feedback:

Did anything feel "missing" or otherwise "incomplete"? In other words, are there portions of the sequence of events you wish you had more information about?

Your narrative is engaging and heartfelt, but there are some areas where more detail would enhance the story. For example, more information about your journey learning French and the challenges you faced would provide a deeper understanding of your perseverance. Additionally, elaborating on your feelings and experiences during the pivotal moments, such as your decision to give up on your dream and later achieving it, would make the narrative more complete.

Memoirs-Course 2- Week 1

Write a one-page (three to five paragraphs) "autobiography" of the narrator for your eventual memoir or essay (which could be, but is not necessarily, the same thing as the "main character"). Consider which version of yourself is telling this story? Is it you in the present or the past? Is it an omniscient version of yourself or are you revealing how little you understood at the outset of this story? For example, if the narrator is "in the moment" of the events, then he or she won't know how the story ends. Write a physical description of the self who is telling this story, and describe this narrator's agenda. What is he or she trying to accomplish? What are the personality traits you want to make sure the reader is aware of? In short, write a page about who you are--or, more specifically, who the you that is telling this story will be.

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Yves Leonardo. In his late teens, now a young adult, he began to think differently while still cherishing the children he once was. For the past ten years, he has honed his writing skills, devoting himself to reading, practice, and exploration to become a master writer. A naturally creative man, the joy that surrounded him is his defining characteristic and something he wants to translate onto paper. YvLeo, as he likes to shorten his name for publications, is a 19-year-old Mexican. He was born male on February 2nd, 2021, in Monterrey, Mexico. The early years of his life were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Vaccines were scarce, and restrictions were particularly strict for children. He was the center of attention for both sides of his family, being the last grandchild on his mother's side and the first on his father's. His native language is Spanish, and he is fluent in English and French. He moved to Boudreaux, France, with his parents at the age of 10. This is where he learned to communicate in French. He learned English at home and school. YvLeo is currently writing a memoir about his family, starting with his grandparents' lives, deaths, and businesses. He explores the life lessons they learned and how his parents passed them on to him. His parents are the main characters in this story, highlighting their love, struggles, and the business they built together.

Memoirs - Course 2 - Exercise 1

 write during 5 minutes a vivid experience, the experience should be a first time. using the time of myselft today

The announcemente of a new season of How I met your mother arrived and desperate and trigger for watching my favourite series I saw it. i was glad and happy, expecting to see the new adventures of characters that I have never met and never will. People that I dream during the day and night. 

It was the announcemente of season 7. It was themed on autum and was a wedding. I was thinking that might be the finale of season 7. It was Barney and Robin amazingly dancing from upside down and having some incredible jokes. The cameras also changed, they had a lot more of high definition and it was easier to see the faces of my favourite characters. I really do not know what make fall in love of the series. After watching the announcemente I send back a text message to my high school girlfriend. 

"did you see it?" I ask

"Or course I am dying to see itt!" She reply back to me. 

I have watched the series like 3 or four times. I just to have the season 3 to 5 on my background making noise while i do my homework. It just to make me happy and I just to have a lot of homework back on those days. A simple time and not so broke. 

Memoirs - Course 1 - week 4

Whose Story Is It?

As if our own memories weren’t foggy enough, what happens when we have to rely on those of other people? Separately interview two friends or family members to get their versions of a shared experience. Preferably, this will be an event that concerns you but which you either have no memory of or were not present to experience firsthand like, for example, your birth or first day of school. From the notes you take during these interviews, you will write a single version of the story, about 500-750 words. Account for at least two discrepancies that arise between the two accounts. How do you explain these discrepancies? Offer theories for why either respondent might remember the story the way that they do. Be sure to support your theories by offering insight into your respondent’s personalities. You can do so in several ways. For example, a character description might explain your respondent’s motives; or a brief anecdote would show your respondent’s behavior in a similar situation.

It was Elian's 10th birthday. The WWE and wrestling were everywhere. T-shirts, magazines, TV, radio – everything was saturated with the wrestling world. Mexico was a big fan; public Mexican channels paid millions of dollars to broadcast WWE on weekdays and Mexican Wrestling on weekends. Young Elian was enthralled and wanted everything around his birthday to be wrestling-themed.

Though surrounded by love, the family struggled financially and couldn't afford many gifts.  Elian's Aunt Mayra Gomez, his mother's sister, arrived very early on Saturday at his house. Working long hours all week, buying a gift was challenging for her.

She took Elian to the toy store. They browsed aisle after aisle, searching for the perfect toy.  Aunt Mayra doesn't remember taking Elian to the store, nor how they got there – whether by taxi or on foot. Elian, however, remembers being with his aunt at the store when they reached an aisle overflowing with wrestling toys.

In the center of the aisle, there it was: a wrestling ring with a cage. 

At the same time, Elian and Mayra spotted the wrestling ring with a cage. Mayra asked Elian if it was a good gift. Thrilled, Elian thanked his aunt and grabbed the toy. They headed to the cashier and Mayra paid for it. The wrestling ring even came with two bonus action figures –  popular Mexican wrestlers!

Neither Elian nor Mayra could remember how they got back home. However, one thing remained crystal clear in their minds: Laura, Elian's mom, was giving them the side-eye (a.k.a. resting bitch face) as they walked in with the toy.

The party kicked off. Everyone laughed, played games, enjoyed a chocolate cake, and finally, it was time to open presents. Everyone was in high spirits. Mayra hadn't wrapped her gift, so it was obvious what it was. Elian unwrapped the brightly colored yellow paper to reveal a gift from his mom. As he opened it, Elian, Mayra, and everyone else realized – it was ANOTHER wrestling ring with a cage!

"Why did not you ask me what to get him, Mayra?" Laura asked, clearly annoyed.

"How was I supposed to know? It was a good deal!" Mayra retorted.

"Now I have two," Elian giggled.

Mayra knelt to Elian's eye level and explained, "Hey, why don't you play with one ring for now? Then, if the first one gets broken or worn out, you can open the second one!"

Elian, with a determined glint in his eyes, looked up at his aunt and declared, "No. They're both mine now, and I'm going to use them both!"

Mayra chuckled, a hint of exasperation in her voice. "I really don't care. Do whatever you want, they are yours now.”

Elian couldn't help but giggle.

Memoris-Course 1-Week 1

Write a letter (two pages or so) to a “straw man,” someone who is not a friend or family member, but who was a significant figure in your life as a child or young person. This should be, for example, an elementary school teacher, a soccer coach, a piano teacher, etc.—someone associated with a specific period in your life, a period long enough ago that you would not have a clear sense of events occurring beyond your neighborhood or region. Addressing your writing to an adult who would have had the social consciousness then that you have now will help you to maintain a mature perspective as you explore the memory.

In the letter, recount a specific personal event that had a notable impact on your life alone, and which occurred while you were, say, that teacher’s student. Incorporate references to what we’ll call a “global” event that made headlines in the newspapers at the time. Try to find a headline(s) as close to the date of the experience, as well as you can recall, as possible. If you cannot determine the exact date through your memory or others, approximate as best you can. In essence your letter is an attempt to connect your childhood experience to a larger social and historical consciousness you may not have had as a child.

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 Hello Professor.

Good day. I hope life has treated you as well as it can be. I am now 28 years old. The last time we seen each other was 16 years ago. A life has passed since down and gathering does not sound like an option anymore.

I am now a boring engineer seated in front of a computer all day and all nights. I am also married with a healthy three-year-old son. In this past year’s life has changed a lot. It was obvious that you were gay at the time or at least you have a type of vibe that feels gay.

As in many times you were sculling us, for actions, non-actions, and undiscipline matters. It was okey and fun. The moment that I start realizing things were serious is when you were talking about: “and what?” “It does not matter if someone is gay.”

You were sculling us regarding to understand that someone sexual preferences did not matter, and you were right. The year of 2005, 2006 and 2007 were highly violent years. As a 11-year-old boy I did not get it. Someone was killed a few blocks away of school, in movies and tv death is very common. Well, as a matter-of-fact death was not common in the Early 2000s Monterrey. The 90s were safe and nice. Now, I understand the harsh situation that you have with us. It really did not matter if we were learning math, Spanish or shit. The actual matter was the fight for a proper growth environment provide to the children that you have at the time. Now that I am adult is less seeing but the situations that you should have face regarding the gay discrimination has all the sense of the world now.

Being happy or at least open to the world it should have been a difficult task for someone like you, and the dilemma of how to provide a strong but fair education, should have been something that morale was complicated.

I imagine that in the morning when you were driving to the work or while you were preparing yourself for the classes, watching or hearing the news regarding that someone from the gay community was killed, abused or even worse. I am not sure how you feel at those specific moments, but I know that when you see the faces of a bunch of young people.

The decision was clear. It was necessary to explain that love preferences, were not an insult, were not something wrong, neither bad, was something that each person decides, something like choosing a colour.

It had been words and a teaching that has been with me for the rest of my life. I am thankful because I believe if I had not meet you, I might be a man blind my misbeliefs. 2007 was hard on all. All the sudden deaths, the stop of the night life and start to learn on how to protect ourselves.

Thank you for everything Mister Roberto. I hope you have a great life.