Journal 4 -- Gabriel Pullen

The chapter of the book, A House On Mango Street, that I was assigned is titled, "Bums in the Attic". The chapter is about how her family, every Sunday, would go look at houses together as a family. Esperanza does not want to go out and do it anymore, maybe because she is getting older, but she has a problem with them looking at houses they cannot have. She states on page 86, "... I am ashamed--all of us staring out the window like the hungry. I am tired of looking at what we can't have", (Cisneros 86). She also talks about how she wants to be successful, but not forget where she comes from. I think that is the theme of the chapter, having pride in where you come from, wherever or whatever that is.

When I was about 14, I was going into freshmen year of high school. My first experience in high school was in band camp, that took place over the course of two weeks in July-August. I went into band camp unsure of what high school was going to be like, especially because marching band was the first thing I had been a part of that was made up of people of a fairly wide range of age. I remember the first day of band camp, I did not really know how to act to fit in, and I was intimidated because the leader of the section I was in was a really tough guy that was 4 years older than me. I didn't enjoy band for a portion of band camp because I wasn't good at marching, and my section leader didn't like that I couldn't march. At one point, I met this guy in my section named Matt. He was a junior, and he was really helpful to me when I needed help learning marching drill. He was always there to help me, but he was also just a really nice guy all around. He was very helpful to everyone he met, and was always spreading the love. We ended up becoming friends, and he influenced the way I approached high school and who I am today, because he was a really respectable guy, and he had great fashion sense. Today he is in college in Chicago, and he plans on being a pastor after he graduates.