Journal Four_Olivia Sheets

In the chapter, A Smart Cookie, it tells how smart Esperanza's mom used to be when she was young. The theme in this chapter is to work hard in school to be smart and get involved in many things to be active. If you work hard in the beginning, later on in your life you could have a lot more. Shame in life brings you down, you need to keep your head up and be strong to work forward. In the chapter on page 91, Esperanza's mom is telling her what she needs to do to be successful. She says, "Esperanza, you go to school. Study hard. That Madame Butterfly was a fool", talking about herself.

During my years of adolescent, there were many people in my life I looked up to. The most important person out of all, is a family friend who races. He has taught me so much in life and how to be successful in the future just like Esperanza's mom was doing in the chapter, A Smart Cookie. He has also taught me how to become a better racer along side my dad. He has been here for me since I was born, so he is like a second dad to me. His advice and opinions has changed how I acted in some cases throughout my life. He has told me to look at the bright side of things when something has went wrong. He reminds us all that, "every day is a good day". One day, I was having problems with a friend and he sat me down to talk about the situation. He explained to me why the friend could be mad at me and what I needed to do to approach the situation. After I took his advice, my friend and I were back to being on good terms after we both apologized. There are many explains of how he improved and influenced my life, he is truly a blessing to my family.