Rocko

As a child growing up I always had a pet but, when I came to America we did not have room for a pet. After a couple of years in America we got a dog. Before getting the dog my parents asked me if we got a dog weather I would take care of it or not. I promptly said " Yes I will take care of it". My initial thoughts were that it would be easy taking care of a dog. We got a 8 week old rottweiler puppy and named him Rocky. He was the new addition to our family. Time passed and I understood that taking care of a dog was no joke. You had to teach him not to pee everywhere around the backyard, mess up furniture, and to protect the house. It was a new challenge for me. Soon I found my self cleaning his feces and moving furniture. It was a hassle, but it was worth it because my dog is a loyal companion and a lot of fun. Owning a dog taught me responsibility, and gave me great experiences.

Journey into the Abyss

The weather gets colder, Christmas shopping begins, and most importantly Ski season begins. My favorite season is winter and one of my favorite winter activities is Skiing and Snow Boarding. Two years ago I went to mammoth mountain to go skiing with my brothers and my cousins. Back then I had only started skiing for a year and was at an intermediate level, however I thought that I was better. It was a beautiful blue day and we were enjoying the opening of the ski season. One of the times going up the mountain with the gondola's we decided to go to a more advanced part of the mountain that we had not yet been too. Once we got up to that part of the mountain it was all trees, narrow pathways, and diamond cuts. Diamond cuts are especially hard to ski down because you have to constantly swerve around them at high speeds. It was me, my middle brother and my crazy cousin and we decided to go down anyway. As we started going down we kept falling down and soon realized that we had got more than we bargained for. We decided that we were intelligent, and that we should take a detour around the mountain through the forest, avoiding any warning signs labeling them unnecessary.                                                                                                             Right before we went around the signs the first thought that went through my mind was that I am Armenian, therefore it is acceptable to go past these signs. As we passed the signs and got further into the forest we started to notice that our steps were going deeper into the snow and we started losing our path. We stopped to think for a second weather to go back or not and all of a sudden my cousin yelled and pointed at a distance. It was a cave and a sign read 

At that moment we decided that we had indeed gone a little beyond our heads and that we were not ready to party with bears just yet. We turned our paths and went back in the direction we came luckily finding our way back. This taught me a great deal. For example overconfidence is dangerous, signs are made for a reason, and that bears are terrifying.

Axpers

       I started going to AGBU Manoogian-Demirjian school in sixth grade. Before my actual school year began my mom enrolled me to the summer school to get acquainted with the campus and kids. At first I thought it was a terrible decision and thought that my mom was wasting my time. Looking back now I do not know how my life would have turned out had I not went to summer school. In summer school there was a couple of six graders like my getting to know the school and some seventh graders who had to take summer courses to pass the classes they had failed in. I knew one of the seventh graders from outside school and most of the time I would hang out with him and I didn't really get a chance to know any of the other six graders. The first day of school we were all going to our home room classes and I still had no friends from my own grade. I was standing outside my homeroom teacher Mrs.Arslanian's room and saw a familiar face by me. It was a kid from my summer school class, though I didn't know his name I still recognized him. We waited outside the door for a couple minutes and this kid approached and said " Hey, weren't you in my summer school class ? " and I replied " Ya, I was". He then said " My name is Mgo, whats your name? " I preceded by telling him my name and since then its been almost 7 years and were still best of friends till this day.    

Introduction to English

         When I came to America in 1999, I did not know any English what so ever. I was 6 years old and everyone either spoke English or Spanish, and I spoke neither. At first it felt strange, almost like I was on a different planet. The people looked, acted, and their culture were all new to me. My parents both worked full-time at my dad's uncles shop, so I was there with them every day. Eventually we got a TV in the office  to defeat my boredom and growing appetite for American junk food, however the TV didn't help the latter. As a child you could guess my favorite things to watch was cartoons, and one in particular that appealed to me was Tom and Jerry for a few reasons. One it is a silent cartoon and there is no talking and it could be universally understood, and two it bore a striking resemblance to a Russian cartoon I used to watch. Tom and Jerry however didn't teach my the language at all, in fact it was the Bugs Bunny cartoons that truly taught me some English. It is a simple yet educational cartoon and though I didn't understand all of it at first, slowly I began to piece things together. In a couple of months I had started to become fluent in English with the help of school and of course Bugs Bunny.                                                                                 

       

The New World Order

           One family, from the end of the Napoleonic era to the present times, has ruled the banking system of Europe, the Rothschild Family. The Rothschild's are of German-Jewish decent, and have been said to have a total wealth of anywhere from 10-100 trillion dollars! During the Napoleonic wars an opportunistic business man named Nathan Mayer Rothschild financed the British and Continental Armies helping them to a win over Napoleons forces. Before the war the Rothschild family was already rich and they used that large financial backing to buy bonds right after the war knowing that in the next couple of years it would shoot up. 2 years after the war Nathan Rothschild made close to a 40% profit from his bonds. After financing the defeat of France, the french economy was in shambles and the Rothschild Family stepped in offering gold for backing up currency, but with the condition of setting up their banking system in France. With great success in France they set up banking in England, Switzerland, and the Prussian Empire. However their most controversial move came during World War I when they provide financial backing for both sides but mostly for Germany, but when they saw that Germany was losing they pulled out and let them get defeated. After words they again set up a banking system in Germany. Many say that this is the reason for Hitlers anti-semetic beliefs. This family has done this all through out Europe and is said to have shares in the Federal Reserve, The Canadian National

Bank, the British Bank, German national bank, French national Bank, and private Swiss banks who hold the money of most of the richest people in the world. This family has had control of European and arguably the world financial system. I dream that I could be as successful as them building a wealth dynasty that lasts for centuries like the Rothschild family.

Love Stricken

                  The first time I met her I was probably around 3 or 4 years old. At first I didn't know what to think, who was she and why did I like her? I had never met anyone like her before, she was different, unique. She was perfect, always listening to me when I would talk, taking care of me when I needed help, and doing anything I told her. Days went by and I got to know her better and better. Soon days became years and we became more in love. I was sick in the head for her and there wasn't a cure. We were with each other everyday even when I was with my family, friends, or by myself. In my mind she was the ticket to eternal bliss. However I soon learned a more dark side about her. She could be cunning and deceitful in the most evil manner. One day my dad was telling me about his friend David, that had cancer and was dying. He said that he lived a good life for most of his youth, but when he got older he got sad and lonely. My father said that David has a love interest similar to mine, but that even with her always by his side he is still empty and depressed. His friend died, but right before passing away he told me that he regrets falling in love with his soul mate. That made me reconsider my relationship with my lover and I soon began to realize that she wasn't the one. I learned that happiness was achievable without her. She goes by many names, sizes, and shapes in different languages and cultures. I am talking about ............

Me myself and I

Ever since I was 6 years old sports has been a big part of my life especially boxing. I am 17 years old, about to turn 18 and I am a senior at AGBU Manoogian-Demirjian high school. When ever I am not going to school I am either with my best friends Yervant, Mgo, and Hikaz or playing soccer or boxing. I follow soccer and boxing very closely. My favorite team is Real Madrid and my favorite boxer is Vic Darchinyan. Boxing has taught me discipline and self defense and at the same time kept me in shape. My taste in music is very wide ranging, I listen to armenian rabiz, shalakho, new and old school hip-hop, house, and some rock. I also deeply have a love for anything fiscal and I am always reading about stocks, the economy, and any other financial news. My favorite subjects in school are science, math and with out a doubt most favorite is English. I absolutely adore irony, metaphors, and themes (no sarcasm). Thanks to my superlative teacher Mrs. Shushan Arabian I think I am ready to go to college and broaden my literary horizons in the English fields. She has taught me how to speak English in only a matter of a year, made me a avid reader, and an engaging student. I take my life day by day, and try to enjoy every one of them.