/lɐv/ : Sacrifice

Nothing on Earth is comparable to the love we receive from our Mothers. The amount of care, sincerity and trust that is in the layers of a Mother's love is what makes it so different from other relationships. What I find so surprising is the endless list of sacrifices that they have to give up in order for their children to prosper.

One night, I ended up going through ye ol’ Jeong family scrapbook and I realized that most of the pictures consisted of either my sister or myself. I thought, Why are there no pictures of my parents’ life before me? I later discovered that my mother brought no pictures of her and just decided to keep ours. My mother had given up her past in order to move on to her present treasures, us.

All moms have a different story on what they have sacrificed, including Hester from Scarlet Letter. She had to give up her social connections, dignity and respect from society in order to raise her Pearl. Yet, in her tone throughout the novel, she has never stated regrets. She has so much commitment into loving her daughter that born from sin.

I believe that mothers are the strongest beings on the planet. They can withstand through so much heartbreak, so many sacrifices and loss; yet they still have to strength to smile and say everything will be okay. We take our mother's presence too lightly; but it is only in our ability to fill in their empty spaces with gratitude. 

/dɪˌskrɪmɪˈneɪʃ(ə)n/ : A Fourth Grade Lunch Disaster

Displayed above is how an average Korean lunch box looks like. Whenever I see any Asian cuisine set up like this, an entire nightmare unravels before my eyes. Here's what happened.
Back in the fourth grade, most of my friends were of the Caucasian race so my rice stood out even more against the surrounding pizzas and the spaghetti-o's that were trending at the time. I always felt their gazes whenever I opened up my lunch box.But being the overly-confident child I was, I shook it off. However, there came a day when a girl by the name of Jessie kindly and softly whispered to me, "YOUR KIMCHI IS STINKING UP THE CAFETERIA!"
As you can imagine, the atmosphere at my table became quite lively in a matter of seconds. They explained that if I wanted to fit in then i should start bringing in more "Americanized food" or else I was no longer welcome at their table. I stared shocked, unable to grasp what was going on. This was the first time that I was exposed to discrimination. But I must mention to you again, I had too much confidence for an eight year old, so I stood up, and told them that " I'm going to go sit with more cooler people."
 And then it happened.
As I walked away, smiling at my good choice of diction, I tripped on my shoelaces and fell flat on my face while spilling my lunch everywhere on the floor. It was as if a spotlight was put upon me and I could sense the entire room going silent as they stared at my toppled-over tofu and squandered seafood. I felt heat rush to my face as I slowly got up and saw my lunch being sweeped away by the custodian. What humiliated me the most was that I saw my ex-lunch buddies holding back their laughter. This infuriated me so much. I did what my gut told me to do, (which might not have been a smart move because I wasn't in the best mental condition after being publicly-humiliated). I strutted up to Jessie, not breaking my intense glare into her eyes.I stopped in front of her; I leaned forward and kindly and sweetly whispered to her, "It could've been worse cleaning up spaghetti-o's off the floor." And I walked away, trying not to show how embarrassed I was after making face-to-ground contact in front of the population of my school.

A similar depiction to the situation in the cafeteria.

What started this whole commotion was how my friends discriminated me and looked down upon my Asian ways. Discrimination has become an iconic controversial topic in society. From elementary schools to work offices, it occurs everywhere. But I believe that discrimination will only happen if you allow it. Although my example may not have been the most reassuring tale, it proves that one must look at inequality in the eye and fight back. A fire can only be put out if there is the audacity to get close enough to pour water upon it. Absorbing all negative comments and staying silent will bring no benefits. It must be evident that we all are past the stereotypes that society has set upon us, and reveal what our true qualities may be. In conclusion, if discrimination is a reoccurring situation, then the only solution is to act against it. It may not happen in the first try, but staying strong is half the battle. Fight for the heritage that you have been born with and look past the stares you may receive, for it is a battle worth struggling for.

/fɑɪər/ : Destruction that seeks for Control

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPecSfHLaDw

I don't know about anyone else but if I were to preform this fire trick, I would scream and faint in fear. 

How has the human race become so tolerable with a destructive being, in this case fire, that we are able to literally hold it in the palm of our hand? It just absolutely blows my mind that something that can destroy an entire forest can also be a tranquil, small flame. I'm sure our Neanderthal relatives would be so proud. 

But it is quite ironic how something so violent has a possibility to be controlled. Jeannette Walls had a long term relationship with fire and it is shown quite frequently throughout her memoir. She mentioned that when she was a child she "...was on fire..." (Walls 5) by the young age of five. Literally. This happens when she was cooking hot dogs in order to feed herself but after she "...felt a blaze of heat on...[her] right side." (Walls 5) , and she was immediately hospitalized. This marked the beginning of her life becoming destructive and without regulations. Like a fire, her life started to burn and the ashes of her youth float away, unable to be assembled back to what it used to be. Walls had opportunities to change her poorly-structured life everyday, but they would all end up floating away, lost in a sea of what would become her memories. In order to gain stability, Walls tried to tame her heated life, (excuse the pun) but there are times when her efforts would burn back. Her life obstacles, such as poverty and abuse, would not succumb so easily just as a fire would. 

In an effort to take control, Jeannette had to use her secret weapon, her amazing ability to write, as her firefighter. Using her skill, she was able to overcome her life difficulties of suffering under lower-class lifestyle. 

Before reading Glass Castle, I believed that my life can be called anything but extraordinary, and I was always so amazed and slightly envious towards those who had a major accomplishment in their life. But I have realized that, like Jeannette Walls, everyone has overcome a "disastrous fire" in their life almost everyday. Any struggle we have, we end up overcoming at one point by sustaining control. Whether it was trying to reach for the top cupboard to get those chocolate chip cookies (part of my problems from being vertically-challenged), to overcoming your fears of society. We all have a fire that we will need to gain control of but we must use our own strength to take control of it. Like the saying goes, you must fight fire with fire.