When I think about all the advice I have given or have gotten, the intentions are usually to assist and positive. But, advice can be negative as well. I think giving positive advice is so important, especially when someone is hanging on by their last thread, when they really need someone to say something to them for motivation or to make things even the slightest bit better somehow. When dealing with relationships, most of the time you try to make the best of it and tell that person that maybe it’s for the better or something like that. Situations like death, is probably one of the worst and life-changing things you will ever have to experience. In this case, you try to comfort and make it be positive even when it’s so hard to be. Giving advice about jobs, situations where you aren’t sure what to do, anything like that… everyone needs advice or has given advice at some point. Advice to me is kind of like a guide or at least a way to see things from a different perspective than my own. In my opinion, giving advice comes with being a good listener. I am always there to give advice to my friends about anything they need. And they are always there for me whenever I need it.

In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey plays a great character that is in need of good advice, but with everyone against him he can’t get the help he needs. There’s a quote or something and it says me vs. the world, and normally some people just feel that way but in this movie for Truman, it really is him against the world. I don’t know how I would feel if I were him. It’s scary, because you wonder how they do it. How do they get everyone to cooperate without telling him or letting it slip out? How does their communication with him and body language not give it away at times? How can not even ONE person, tell him the truth? Why would his “family” and even his “wife” do this to him? HOW could they do this to him? Why doesn’t his crush tell him the truth? During this movie, there are so many questions running through your mind. Truman’s world is different than the life we live. There are ups and downs that go along with it, but since he doesn’t even know, it’s really sad. For the most part he thinks he’s insane when he starts feeling that things are getting fishy, because if you think about it… no matter how rough time can get, it’s a little hard to actually believe that the whole world is watching you. I feel bad for him, especially because his wife, his mother, and his best friend are lying to him. And on top of that, he thinks he saw his father die. I don’t know what I would do in this situation. In his world, it seems as though he’s being taken care of. For instance, since he’s always being watched he never has to deal with pain, suffering, anything in the real world because they revolve everything around him. It could be a bad thing though, he’s being lied to by everyone, he can’t trust anyone, and he’s always being watched no matter what he does. It’s very weird and disturbing to really think about. I hope, for his sake, he figures it out and makes the right choice for his life. I wouldn’t want to be lied to and have the whole world watching my every move. I wouldn’t want someone to be in love with me who really isn’t. He does have it easy though, everyone’s always looking out for him. But, is it worth it? I don’t really know.

The way Truman was protected in this movie is nothing like the protection we have in this world. I mean, the world literally revolved around him. He was protected from pain, sorrow, he couldn’t leave, everyone was always looking out for him, and his life was basically controlled. I’m glad he chose to leave at the end. Although there may be some positive things about the life he lives, but overall… it wasn’t his choice. He didn’t get to live life like everyone else gets the chance to do. Yeah, there is heartbreak, sorrow, difficulties, confusion, but he wanted to be a part of that, he wanted to be just like everyone else. His whole life he had been watched over and protected and he didn’t want to live that way anymore. I say, good for him with his decision to be a normal human being just like everyone else. I am protected by the people that love me but not in the way Truman was. I have friends and family who give me advice and attempt to lead me to the right direction, guiding me to what they think is best. Their opinions have a huge impact on when making final decisions, but it’s really up to me. My parents and family have taught me right from wrong and that’s all they can really do. My family and friends are always there to protect me when I need them most, in any type of experience. I know I have them to lean on whenever I need them, they are my foundation and without them I wouldn’t be able to hold myself together.

My advice to Truman would to just be himself, like he has been doing all along. Although everyone was watching him, it didn’t change him as a person until he started figuring it out. Truman lived his life to the fullest everyday and everyone in the world got to witness it. He is funny, smart, out- going, friendly, and just a great guy all around. If I were him, I would definitely not want to keep the show going. I would want to know my real family and friends and experience real things just like everyone else. Sometimes we tell ourselves to snap back to reality, but for Truman what was reality? Was his whole life a complete lie just because he was on television? Truman made the right decision at the end to walk through the doors and live his own life without the whole world looking over his shoulder.

Since I can remember I’ve been calling Ali’s house my second home. Ali Zambanini is my 4^th cousin, but we would prefer being called best friends. My grandmother is her grandmother’s aunt, but although we aren’t closely related our families act like we are. Ali is one grade ahead of me, but I am older than her by two months. Ali and I have been friends since forever because we are related. But, when we grew up we become best friends. Ali currently attends Penn State University and majors in Biology. Not only is she smart, but she is a member of an Acapella group called the Pennharmonics. She tried a lot of sports growing up, but only played volleyball in high school. My best friend is best known for her talent of singing. She performed in many of the schools musicals and attended various County and Regional Chorus concerts. To me and a lot of others, she is an amazing singer, I kid you not.

Ali’s parents are Sheri and Tony Zambanini. They have been great to me since I was young. I’ve gone to the beach and countless other events with their family. She is the oldest of four children. She has two brothers, Kyle, a junior, and Danny, a freshman. Finally is the youngest, Maggie who is currently in fourth grade. Ali’s family is like my other family, I love just going down to their house and hanging out, we have fun and it’s always a good time.

We live in the same little town, also known as Jerome. It’s actually a chill place to live, everyone pretty much knows everyone, at least by name. Our houses are just about two streets from each other making it a lot easier for the both of us. When we couldn’t drive, we could simply just walk or bike to each other’s house. This would take less than five minutes.

Outside on the sidewalk, I see my destination. My eyes are set on the red house with a stoned front porch and two small white pillars. The huge front door window let’s you get only a glimpse of what you are about to get into. As soon as you open the front door, you are left with three options. A nudge to the right is the stairwell to go upstairs. Straight ahead is a slight walkway back to the kitchen. And finally, my favorite place, directly to the left is the entrance to the living room. The living room is connected to the dining room and there always is the opening to the kitchen.

When I go to Ali’s house, we generally meet up in the kitchen, but end up in the living room. Out of six rooms in this house, the living room is the most energetic and fun. It’s the biggest room in the house, a place where we can all come together. The living room overall gives a warm and welcoming sensation within seconds of entering the house.

The pride and joy of this room is the huge Sony television. Together, we gather to watch movies and television. I can’t forget to mention the big couch and the little couch, but with a family of six and me, we have to squeeze together. Which was never a problem for us, some of us would just lay on the floor with blankets or we would cuddle up on the couches. The furniture is a dark blue, maroon, and crème, but aside from the beautiful colors the best part is the comfy feeling I get when I sink into the cushions. You can’t miss the aroma from the candles lit throughout the room. An apple or cinnamon candle is most likely to fill the room but along with that was the scent of Chloe, their dog, and Day Day, the cat.

Her living room actually is connected to the dining room, maybe that’s why it’s so huge. Ali and I would turn on music from the computer and dance throughout the room. At times we would get her brothers and sister to play games, for instance, “Don’t Touch the Carpet”. In this game, we would throw pillows throughout her living room and we would all try to push each other off, but you couldn’t touch the carpet or you were out. One of the funniest things we would do is put on plays in the living room for everyone. We would spend hours thinking of a story line and getting all dressed up, it was a blast. We even played tackle football against Kyle and Danny in here. Other times, we would get her whole family to watch movies with us. In the midst of sitting around and chatting, we would play with her pet dog and cat. Another favorite was putting on plays or reenacting movie scenes.

Not only did I spend most of my time at Ali’s house my whole life, but especially in her living room. The living room gave us a chance for just her and I to spend time together and have fun. Sometimes, her family would join us and we could all bond together and have a good time too. Her living room will always be a special place for me. We made countless memories that I could never, ever forget. And still to this day, every time I go to her house… the living room welcomes me with open arms and reminds me of our friendship and the great memories we made in there.

When I think about all the advice I have given or have gotten, the intentions are usually to assist and positive. But, advice can be negative as well. I think giving positive advice is so important, especially when someone is hanging on by their last thread, when they really need someone to say something to them for motivation or to make things even the slightest bit better somehow. When dealing with relationships, most of the time you try to make the best of it and tell that person that maybe it’s for the better or something like that. Situations like death, is probably one of the worst and live-changing things you will ever have to experience. In this case, you try to comfort and make it be positive even when it’s so hard to be. Giving advice about jobs, situations where you aren’t sure what to do, anything like that… everyone needs advice or has given advice at some point. Advice to me is kind of like a guide or at least a way to see things from a different perspective than my own. In my opinion, giving advice comes with being a good listener. I am always there to give advice to my friends about anything they need. And they are always there for me whenever I need it.

In The Truman Show, Jim Carrey plays a great character that is in need of good advice, but with everyone against him he can’t get the help he needs. There’s a quote or something and it says me vs. the world, and normally some people just feel that way but in this movie for Truman, it really is him against the world. I don’t know how I would feel if I were him. It’s scary, because you wonder how they do it. How do they get everyone to cooperate without telling him or letting it slip out? How does their communication with him and body language not give it away at times? How can not even ONE person, tell him the truth? Why would his “family” and even his “wife” do this to him? HOW could they do this to him? Why doesn’t his crush tell him the truth? During this movie, there are so many questions running through your mind. Truman’s world is different than the life we live. There are ups and downs that go along with it, but since he doesn’t even know, it’s really sad. For the most part he thinks he’s insane when he starts feeling that things are getting fishy, because if you think about it… no matter how rough time can get, it’s a little hard to actually believe that the whole world is watching you. I feel bad for him, especially because his wife, his mother, and his best friend are lying to him. And on top of that, he thinks he saw his father die. I don’t know what I would do in this situation. In his world, it seems as though he’s being taken care of. For instance, since he’s always being watched he never has to deal with pain, suffering, anything in the real world because they revolve everything around him. It could be bad thing though, he’s being lied to by everyone, he can’t trust anyone, and he’s always being watched no matter what he does. It’s very weird and disturbing to really think about. I hope, for his sake, he figures it out and makes the right choice for his life. I wouldn’t want to be lied to and having the whole world watches my every move. I wouldn’t want someone to be in love with me who really probably isn’t. He does have it easy though, everyone’s always looking out for him. But, is it worth it? I don’t really know.

The way Truman was protected in this movie is nothing like the protection we have in this world. I mean, the world literally revolved around him. He was protected from pain, sorrow, he couldn’t leave, everyone was always looking out for him, and his life was basically controlled. I’m glad he chose to leave at the end. Although there may be some positive things about the life he lives, but overall… it wasn’t his choice. He didn’t get to live life like everyone else gets the chance to do. Yeah, there is heartbreak, sorrow, difficulties, confusion, but he wanted to be a part of that, he wanted to be just like everyone else. His whole life he had been watched over and protected and he didn’t want to live that way anymore. I say, good for him with his decision to be a normal human being just like everyone else. I am protected by the people that love me but not in the way Truman was. I have friends and family who give me advice and attempt to lead me to the right direction, guiding me to what they think is best. Their opinions have a huge impact on when making final decisions, but it’s really up to me. My parents and family have taught me right from wrong and that’s all they can really do. My family and friends are always there to protect me when I need them most, in any type of experience. I know I have them to lean on whenever I need them, they are my foundation and without them I wouldn’t be able to hold myself together.

My advice to Truman would to just be himself, like he has been doing all along. Although everyone was watching him, it didn’t change him as a person until he started figuring it out. Truman lived his life to the fullest everyday and everyone in the world got to witness it. He is funny, smart, out- going, friendly, and just a great guy all around. If I were him, I would definitely not want to keep the show going. I would want to know my real family and friends and experience real things just like everyone else. Sometimes we tell ourselves to snap back to reality, but for Truman what was reality? Was his whole life a complete lie just because he was on television? Truman made the right decision at the end to walk through the doors and live his own life without the whole world looking over his shoulder.

Questions run through our minds everyday, why are we so judgmental? Unfortunately, it’s all we have ever known. I guess that’s the society we live in that will never change. Always judging the book by its cover. Is it really fair though? No, but it’s just how we are… right? We wake up every morning and go out of our house, always interacting with other people. Although we associate with others everyday, we are also making judgments about them in our heads or discussing it with others behind their back. So, really… what is considered “in” now? The clothes we wear, the people we hang out with, the extracurricular activities we are involved in, music we like, the type of family we have, the grades we get in school, our personality, our likes and dislikes… etc. All these things make up who we are and what we are.

I think my best friend Ali and I make a perfect example of this. We both share sports in common, too an extent. She does volleyball. When she was younger she played pretty much everything. But, as she got older her love turned to music. She became one of the best singers in the area and especially to walk out of our high school. On the other hand, I was very passionate about sports. I went to camps, worked hard at every practice, enjoyed being with my team mates, and made sports practically my life. I was always around sports, I loved watching and playing sports. If I was not playing or practicing, you could find me at the games of the other sports. I liked music, but I was never good at singing or acting or anything so I just listened to music on my own time and sang in the shower, typical teenager. Although, we had our differences we had a lot of other things in common. We loved having fun, being outside, always finding something crazy or stupid to do, playing with her brothers, going for walks, working out, talking, singing and dancing in her living room, watching movies, being friends and just laughing whenever possible. Ever since Ali, I went to the musicals every year she was in and even become interested in famous musicals like Rent, Mamma Mia, etc.  I went to her regional chorus concerts and now that she is in college I even travel to Penn State to see her acapella group “The Pennharmonics” perform. Ali brought music into my life in a special way and I think my passion and love for sports, she was beginning to understand. She knew how much they meant to me and how much winning is to me although it may not have meant it that same way for her. Being that I wasn’t really familiar with musicals when she got involved in 7th grade, I now have a better perspective and understanding of her. I learned so much from her and I hope she did from me.  And if I could speak for Ali, I think she would agree.

When I grew up, I was raised to be very family-oriented. I also have been involved with sports since the first grade. These were not something I had been forced too, I have been welcomed to a loving family and from this I have learned to love other people and really be a great, loving friend. Sports has been something of my choice. Since I remember, I always was playing with a ball and a backwards hat on my head. It’s something that I have always been interested in for my entire life. Because of sports, I have made great friends.. spending a lot of time together at practices and games and sharing that sport in common.. brings me close to them. A lot of my friends play sports, not because I don’t like people that don’t, but I share a common interest and spend time with them, so those friends are the ones I have grown on to.

On the other hand, I believe some things we could possibly be forced into depending on the person and who they hang out with. As for me, I really don’t have a certain style. I like to wear whatever if comfortable for me and what I think looks good.  I get ideas from what others are wearing, but honestly… who doesn’t? Our personality can also be affected by other people. We have some traits that we have that have been since we were young, but depending on the people we are around the most can be a huge factor of our personalities.

Yes, we are all guilty of judging others. We always “check out” other people, it’s basically natural for us to do so. Whether we mean it in a good or bad way, we all do it. I mean, in reality… people that we have the same common interests and can relate to is a way to bring us together more than with others. It’s just easier to have friendships that way.  I think some people take it too far though. You never know who you have things in common with until you get to know someone. For example, just because you don’t have one thing in common doesn’t mean you won’t have anything else in common. People become so judgmental, that they don’t even give others a fair chance. Someone may be struggling and need a friend for help, but no one to turn too. It’s just something that we need to figure out ourselves and not be so judgmental that we forget the importance of friendships. So, think about it.. what’s really “in” and what’s “out”?

Not only was this game important for the team, but a big game for me as well. I was eleven points away from 1,000 career points. This milestone is a big deal in high school. The newspaper usually comes and interviews you and you get put in the paper along with an article of your career. It’s an accomplishment that high school basketball athletes get recognized for. Everyone was under the assumption that I was going to get it that night. Most of my family came in just for the game. Some of my friend made t-shirts for me, while others made signs and posters. Many students and the community had come to support me and the team. I had so many thoughts running through my mind, but winning the game was most important and although everyone was expecting me to get my 1,000 points, it didn’t matter to me. I wanted to do whatever I had to do for the team to win the game. The win would help us in rankings at the end of the season. This wasn’t our last game, so I knew I would eventually reach the 1,000 point milestone anyway.

I woke up Saturday morning, went out for breakfast with the team so none of us slept in too late. We had a few hours of team bonding and went home to get ready for the game. I went home and relaxed for a while and eventually ate a bite for dinner. My parents and siblings were talking to me about the game as if I wasn’t nervous already. I listened to my music the whole way there in my car, trying to stay focused and get my game face on. Finally, I got there and sat through the JV game with my iPod in my ears, starting to get butterflies.

With three minutes left of the JV game, the varsity starts went down to the locker room to get our gear on. We got ready and pumped each other up, giving each other a little pump up speech. Coach came down and talked to us about the game plan, what defense we were going to play and such. He then, gave us his speech and we just started jumping and screaming… we were ready. The JV came downstairs and put their warm-ups on and joined us in a prayer and a quote that we said before every game. We stampeded up the steps, screaming to let our rivals know that we were more ready than ever. The music came on and we ran out to warm-up. The referees called the captains over, me and two other seniors walked over. We shook hands with the opposing captains and looked them up and down, ready to annihilate.

The starters for each team were announced and then we gathered for the National Anthem. We held hands as a team, and my legs begin to shake and I felt weak to my knees. I was so nervous, yet so excited. I gathered up the other four starters and we had our last little talk together before game time. We set up ourselves for tip-off and then it began. We were winning most of the time, but they pulled ahead a few times. First quarter passed and we were winning. Halftime came and the game was close, but we were winning only by a few. As a team, we refocused in the locker room and came out in the third quarter tough, but not tough enough. Ferndale was right there hanging with us, we just couldn’t break away. Together, our team made stupid mistakes, I kept scoring though… getting closer to my milestone.

It was the fourth quarter, our last quarter until time runs out. The score was going back and forth the whole time. Then there it was, I got the ball and shot a three-pointer and it when in. This gave me my 1,000^th point. The game immediately stopped, and the crowd cheered. It was an exciting and proud moment for me, my family, coaches, friends, and fellow community members. We changed the game ball so I could keep the one I made the 1,000^th point shot. My teammates hugged and congratulated me, I was the center of attention, but there was still about three or four minutes on the clock and so I was ready to play my heart out and win this game. Unfortunately, we fell apart after that. Ferndale was making all their shots and doing the right things and we just couldn’t keep up if our lives depended on it. It was less than a minute when they pulled ahead and won the game by three points.

I heard the buzzer go off, and I immediately put my head to the ground in distress. This isn’t how I planned it to happen. I stormed to the bench, sat down, and immediately put my hands on my face and cried in shame and disappointment. It was supposed to be a good thing to get 1000 points, but to me the game was more important and I couldn’t even be excited about the achievement. I was interviewed by the newspaper, with tears in my eyes… I was speechless. I thanked my coaches and teammates because I couldn’t have done it without them, but losing the game was the only thing on my mind.

It was obvious how I felt about the game, yet people were congratulating me about the milestone I had achieved even though I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I hate losing and I’m the first to admit that I am a sore loser. I think I have cried after every high school game I ever lost. I was thankful for all the support from everyone and people coming up to me and congratulating me, but it didn’t feel as sweet as it should have. That night will always be with me for the rest of my life and I’ve learned a lot from it, I realize that you can’t always have icing on the cake.