The Good and Bad in LA

I love Los Angeles. It is so vibrant and diverse! The people that live here love to have fun, throwing parties, going out to the mall, having kickbacks, or just conversing. There is always something to do. All you need is a telephone and a couple of dollars and you can make anything happen. It is so exhilarating. My weekdays are mostly occupied with attending St. Bernadette Catholic School and talking on the phone.

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But on Fridays you feel the hype from all of the teenagers, including myself, who can't wait to get the weekend started. Typically my weekend will consist of going to The Bridge or South Bay Galleria Friday night, shopping at the Fox Hills Mall or Beverly Center and partying on Saturday, and on Sunday going over to a friend's house to enjoy a relaxing kickback; an event where everyone can just be themselves and joke around about anything that comes to mind.

Despite all of the potential fun you can have in my home city it can often be very detrimental to a young person. You have crack fiends who will do anything to get their daily fix. Sometimes they will kill, rob, and or steal for it. You also have the notorious gang members that roam the streets of LA. Sometimes it is hard for me to pick out what to wear on the weekends because of all the colors that are associated with gangs. It tears me apart because my two favorite colors, red and blue, are forbidden from my wardrobe. I have to watch out who I hang around with because of the potential danger I could be putting myself in. I live around the corner from a Crip hangout so I have to make sure I have little to no red on.

I have grown accustomed to being surrounded by all this stuff and have learned to enjoy life still. I have a great family. My mother and father are still happily married, unlike most of my friends' parents. I have 3 siblings, an older sister Brittany, 17, an older brother Aaron, 15, and a younger sister Brandi, 9. They are very loving. Brittany is my female best friend; I talk to her about everything. It makes me feel very special to know that someone is willing to listen to my personal feelings and thoughts and not be judgmental. I also have great friends. I hang out with a good circle of people. They are considerate, caring, honest and fun-loving.

School life is fun too! I consider myself to be very accomplished. I was elected as Student Council as Vice President, and I have achieved very good grades.