Alejandra Alferez

What is the secret to a happy life? …. WELCOME TO MY TED TALK

I believe the secret to a happy life is to remove all negativity and look forward. By this, I mean to do your best to take out all the negative people and things that block your happiness. This may not always be easy but once you do it, it’ll be relieving and you’ll somehow feel free. 

    Always look forward. By this, not only do I mean to keep your head up but to focus on the now and not on the past. If you’re stuck on what happened in the past how will someone be successful and allow good things to happen yah know? 

Jacqueline Lomeli

What do you think will happen when you die?

I have many conspiracies on what happens when I die. We will never know for sure what actually happens until we experience it. Sometimes I question myself, “where am I going to go” after I die. But I guess we will all have to wait. It's scary to think, that one day I will have to experience death but it's all part of living. My first theory is that you will die and wake up on a different planet in the universe. A different theory I have after death is that you will become a different living thing in the earth, for example, if I die I will wake up and be a jellyfish in the sea. Another thing I believe might happen is that it will be an endless dream and I just never get to wake up. This one scares me because sometimes we get nightmares and I don't want to be stuck inside a dream and never wake up. Something I would like to say to people is to never fall asleep regretting something or not saying “I love you” to your family because you never know when our time will come.

Oscar Teran

                                                                       Oscar Teran 

                                                What do you think will happen when you die?

When I die, there will be both real and fake tears, both of which people will not be able to distinguish. When I die, I will, at last, be free of all the pain and suffering I have experienced throughout the walk of life. My loved ones will cry, and for every tear they shed, a memory of me shall prevail. My enemies will disguise their happiness of my death as a mockery of a pain, a facade, and so on with tears, tears that come from the venomous of snakes, my death will bring joy and cheers to my enemies. To the friends who stood with me during the times where I laughed, they will remember the times where my tears ran down my red, burning cheeks, they will remember the sound of my laughter, the poise I picked myself up with, and the pieces I was able to create with my hands, always stained with the mark of my marker strokes. I only pray that when my time comes, my soul will be free, and everyone who I love will remember me as a strong person. 

Zelma Leon Guerrero

What is the purpose of the human experience? For me, the purpose of the human experience is to make mistakes. It’s okay to do mistakes because I once heard that “life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” The purpose of the human experience is to learn, take risks because life is too short and you don’t have a promised tomorrow. Our purpose is also to make a change, make the world better, you can simply do that by giving somebody a smile when they most need it. All of us are a big family and if we are going to be on this Earth until it’s our time to leave we must treat each other like one. Live life at its fullest, but just don’t forget to respect each other.

Kenneth

What is the secret to a happy life?

“The secret to a happy life is loving yourself because nobody can judge you from the way you are. No one should care how you feel, how to live, and what to wear. If you don't love yourself you cannot have a happy life, you are not going to have a good future, you need to believe in yourself. Quality time is spent with family and friends. Why do you need to change your looks if the only thing that matters is being “you” and be able to live a good life. For me, I have to deal with my sister with depression because it’s not easy for her deciding what to do in her future. It all starts by loving myself, and then that love spreads to others. If I give happiness in her life, I can help her get rid of her depression and be able to decide of what she really wants to do in her future. I may not be the best brother, but at least I’m supporting her in any possible way. Be the version of yourself, that’s what matters to a secret happy life.”

Leslie Dorantes

What was the hardest thing you’ve had to experience?

Leslie Dorantes, her father's residency was being questioned. He was in danger of getting deported. It was difficult because it would have been her father that would have been gone, or  the whole family would have left so that they wouldn’t be seperated. It hit her on an emotional level because her relationship with her father isn’t the best. She quoted, “He is physically there, but not emotionally.” She then mentioned that regardless of her relationship with her father, she still respects and loves him unconditionally. To her it does not matter how others feel because at the end of the day it is just her and that's all that should be important. And even though they did not have the best relationship knowing that her father would have been gone hurt her. Blood is family no matter what. 

Ramon

My least favorite word is "fake". I detest this word because I love honesty, and I believe that the world would be a better place if we were more honest to each other. I admire people who are honest and are not afraid to be who they are no matter what. Who stand for what they believe and say things eye to eye. I cannot stand people who are fake and act in a different way in front of others in order to fit in society, be part of a group, or to be liked by others.

Samantha Mejia

What is the definition of love?

My definition of love is that there isn't one. Love gets redefined every day. Whether it be this undying force that cannot be changed or gotten rid of or something that is just a figment of our imagination. We made up the word for a feeling, a feeling that is different for every single person in the world. It's almost wrong to give such a word a solid definition. For me right now, I don't know what love is but I know that when I feel it, no words ever created could describe that feeling. Love has no labels or definition. It's just love. 

Juan Castillo

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would tell my young self that even when times seem hard, keep going at it. By the time I was 13 years old, I would see myself as a failure and I would at times feel sad and wonder, why was I so different. I had bad grades and I never did anything to fix them, I liked going home and playing video games and never did homework. If I could tell my past self-something it would be to be happy, good things will come from it, try hard and you will succeed.

Joanna

"What the secret to a happy life?"

I think you should love yourself before you can be happy in life. You start to feel confident when you surround yourself with people and things that make you happy. To feel happy, you have to ignore the people who try to bring you down. Also, by saying positive thoughts about yourself eventually will trick your brain to believe anything you say to yourself. Another thing is to not overthink too much. “If it's not going to matter in five years then it doesn’t matter.” Lastly, don’t push yourself to the point where you feel overwhelmed, and find something else that makes you happy.

Attachments area

Araceli

What advice would you give to your younger self? 

 Some advice that I would give my younger self is to put yourself out there. People will always have something to say and you'll never please anyone. As long as I am happy with what I do and the choices I've made then I'll be okay.No one pays my bills, put food on my table or maintains clothes on my back, so why should I worry about what people have to say about my lifestyle. 

Desmen Gomez

Desmen Gomez

What is the lesson of taking you the longest to learn?

Time management. I always try do everything at once, and I try to find the time, but procrastination play a big role, and I just go with the flow, so instead I just procrastinate. It is the hardest because I really have to do a lot and it all piles up and I focus my attention on the wrong stuff and end up putting aside to the last minute everything I was supposed to do, so its hard. Hopefully by the time I get to college I will have resolved this issue and use it as a learning experience.

Ronaldo M.

Ronaldo M.

1. What is your favorite word? Food, because it's food.
2. What advice would you give to your younger self? I would tell my younger self to not do anything that I would do. To always respect your elders, respect your mom, respect the police, and anyone because respect is powerful. Get good grades to get places in the future because they are very important. And to think about a good career that would make your family proud, like an engineer or doctor.

Rosalyn

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to not get too attached to people because everyone takes their own path at some point and to not depend on people because they might let you down. I would also tell myself to not put yourself down in those bad situation because everything has a solution. To just leave everything in God’s hands because he will always be there when I need him. He will take care of the problem and will help me move forward. I would tell myself to cherish the ones you have now and be grateful of what you have or is given to you. To focus on school and stop playing because everything matters, every grades matter. Also make goals for the future that will be accomplished and accomplish them.

Ernesto

Ernesto

What is the lesson that has taken you the longest to learn?

The lesson that has taken me the longest to learn is to finish my homework when I have to. I believe education is important to me, but sometimes I forget to do my homework. Education is important to me because I would like a job that I can be proud of.

Robert W. Clark

Robert W. Clark

Question: What is the most difficult choice you had to make to fulfill your destiny?

I don't really believe in fate or destiny, because I think we have the freedom to make our own choices. I'm always amazed though when I think of how seemingly minor choices I have made at the time have impacted my future. Teaching wasn't even on my radar until about junior year of college. It was actually a fallback plan because I thought to myself "I loved high school and I'm pretty good at math."   My dad's unexpected death shortly before I graduated college rocked my world and I decided to move back home to be near family. But I was not really excited to start teaching. I hated my first 2 years of it (at a different school), so I made a difficult decision to try to find a new job, knowing that I don't adapt to change well. This was when I found Veritas. I struggled to fit in my first year or two here and I still had no real passion for the job. But gradually I decided I needed to change the way I thought about teaching. Probably most importantly, I started to show my personality more and I looked for little things in each day that made me smile (on the inside of course). With more and more experience too, I felt like I was more organized and effective at teaching. As a result, Veritas became a 2nd home and the place where I feel like I'm happiest and at my best.  If I hadn't made all of those choices along the way, I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing. If this is all because of destiny, then I'm thankful for each person along the way who helps me feel like I'm fulfilling it every day. → "If you can't change something, then change the way you think about it."

Ivy

"What is the secret to a happy life?" 

"I think...the secret to a happy life is being grateful. I think it's gratefulness because when you are grateful for things, you take every little moment, and you make it into something special. Because you don't take things for granted, and every moment, you cherish into something special."

Jasmine

What is the secret to a happy life?

“You have to be open with others and keep your character, because it is who you are with everybody...Be open to different opportunities, even if that means going for a challenge and exceeding expectations. Meeting new people can connect you to different types of people. Spending time with family and close friends creates the best memories and they’re the people that I would go for if I need anything to talk about…  I like to spend my time, distracting myself with sports that I’m in. Like I did volleyball and doing track right now… I also like staying healthy because it makes me enjoy life without worrying about my health. Thinking in present time helps you concentrate better and it’s more important than thinking about the future because you don’t want to spend your whole life worrying about those things that could happen later on… Being there for others is very important for me. In general being a good person and going for the things that I want to be or places I want to go assures me that I’m doing well.”

Alyandra

What is your biggest regret? 

Not trying my hardest in school, and not putting the effort that I knew I could.

What would you do different? 

Studying more, asking more questions, not being so quiet.

In the end, I learned to not procrastinate with my work.

Ariana

She said that the lesson that has taken her longest to learn is forgiveness. To her forgiveness is everything, but once the trust is gone it is very hard for her to regain it. She feels like forgiving and forgetting is very hard because you lost the trust of that person. 

Nancy

What role does our experience(s) play in our everyday lives?

   Our experiences play a role in our everyday lives by having an impact in the way that we think about things, especially in tough situations. 

Do you think our experiences define us and/or make us who we are?

   I think it does because if you were in a bad situation and you didn't know what to do, your experiences from the past can determine how you will react now and will react in the future. 

Like, say you got in a car accident. Your first instinct would be to either call the police and help the person along with yourself, or you could run away. Whatever decision you make in that moment came from your past experiences, and will now play a role in who you will be in the future.

Rosa

What is your definition of love?

“Doing something that you normally wouldn't do for someone that you care about, also going out of your way no matter what you are doing or going on in your life, to do something for someone special in your life. Caring for someone whether they make really stupid decisions or not."

What advice would you give your younger self?

“To take advantage of the opportunities given to me. To not let irrelevant people get in the way of life or education. To not procrastinate or be lazy. Speaking up when I believe something should be heard instead of keeping it inside.”

What do you know for sure?

“Ready to graduate and get out of here. I know who's loyal to me and our friendship. I know I didn't want to do this but I helped him for a grade, and I know for sure that I am done."

Ramiro

What is the purpose of life? 

The purpose of the human experience is to make good use of the life you have, to better yourself, to make your parents proud, your future generations in a good spot and leave your mark. 

What is your definition of love? 

My definition of love is when you can see yourself trusting someone for a life time without ever doubting in them and still getting butterflies every time you see them.

Mariah

What sound or noise do you love?

Silence. I have really sensitive ears and it annoys me how everyone is really loud for no reason. I like to be alone looking at the ceiling in my room, thinking about life, being in my own comfort zone because I'm not used to being around people who are really loud because that's not my vibe. I used to hate the silence but over the years I've changed and I actually prefer it.

Kaylee

What is the lesson it’s taken you the longest to learn? 

The lessons that took me the longest to know is boundaries. It's difficult to set boundaries from people when they mean so much, but for the sake of your sanity, you need to learn how to set them. It's a lesson I'm still learning, and it'll probably take years to master the art of setting and respecting boundaries.

Emily

What is your definition of love?

I feel the presence of love when someone cares for you and shows you all of their attention. That person will do anything/everything for you and tells you every day that you mean the world to them. Love isn’t someone who tears you down for everything you do wrong or someone who doesn’t support you through everything you’re trying to do. Love is risk-taking and yes, some people don’t believe in love, but once they find that special one, all perspectives on love can simply change.

Have you ever been in love?

No

Do you want to be in love and why?

No, not at the moment because I want to be more focused on myself before

including someone else in my life.

Do you want to give any advice to anyone who is looking for love?

Just don’t be shy, go for it, and always be yourself.

Alberto

How do you reach happiness? 

You reach happiness by doing the things you love, and being around the people who you love. You can't be happy if you do things you don't like, and you can't be happy if you're always around negative people. Make sure you look for a future career in which you'd enjoy doing everyday, not something that pays a ton of money if that wouldn't make you happy. Also make sure to put yourself with people who are supportive of you, they will be the ones who will make you happy in the end.

Stephanie

What advice would you give your younger self?

What I would tell my younger self is to love myself….. As a child I was insecure of everything, race, color, status, everything. I had friends telling me that God gives you stuff and I have learned to love myself.  Now I say that everybody is special in their own way. So I leave you with this, don't let anyone bring you down because you are beautiful in every way.

We are all unique and that's all that matters.”

Roman

What made you who you are today?

Growing up, back in elementary and middle school, I would get into fights over dumb things that people would say to me and over the time I got mad faster. Coming into high school, I didn’t wanna take anything serious because I thought that it was all a joke. The only thing that would calm me down is sports. Throughout freshman year I tried football to keep me occupied, away from doing any dumb things. Sophomore year during basketball things didn’t work out for me because I almost got into a fight and that’s when I got suspended. Once I got suspended I realized that I had to change my attitude and the way I acted to be a better person. Junior year, once my older brother left to basic training, I realized I had to be the bigger person because I had a younger brother that looked up to me. Teachers recognized how much I changed for the better.

Evy

What is your favorite word?

Her favorite word is Liasion. She likes this word because she likes the way she pronounces the word. Also how the word sounds with an accent. The definition is someone who helps with a close working relationship. 

Michelle

If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be and how would you change it?

One thing I would change is helping the homeless dogs. I would change this by looking into dog shelters that are willing to take them or even families. Dogs can be a human's best friend.

Javier

What advice would you give to your younger self? Why would you give yourself this advice?

The advice I would give to my younger self is to be strong. For most of my childhood, I could vividly remember going to school fearful that I was gonna run into the same bully everyday. And all I would do is stand there and take his comments. It's like someone was stabbing me constantly but I wouldn't react. The person I've become is someone that I know would have never stood for anything negative said towards me. I was such a coward but it wasn't until freshmen year that I realized confidence is one of the strongest characteristics a person could have. It gives you the power to do things even outside of your comfort zone. This is something I would tell my younger self and I know he would listen because I'm the person I wanted to grow up to be. 

Katelyn

I think that little me would be proud of me honestly. I went through so much in my past and all of it sculpted me into the person I am now. When I was little I didn't do that well in school and now I do amazing in school and I didn't think I would have because I didn't really care about school. Now I know that school is a big deal and that it is important though. 

Raquel

What is one memory in your childhood who made you who you are now? 

The time I stood up to my dad because when I was younger I was always shy and never really stood up for myself and my dad was so hypercritical and judgmental and I was so scared of him. Then one day I was just so fed up with a lot of stuff and I started to not like him and when the time for me to stand up for him I felt really powerful and after that I knew I could stand up to anyone and now I’m not scared to do that. 

Adal

What advice would you give to your younger self?

My advice to my younger self would be to do your work and stay on track. To not… umm… to get distracted or... follow what your friends do. To motivate yourself to do better than to do bad. 

Why would you give yourself this advice?

I would give this advice to myself because I already went through it. It wasn't the best decisions to make. If I had the chance to go back I would do everything better. I would pay attention in school, get my work done… umm… and choose my friends wisely because they do not last forever. Sometimes they lead you to the wrong path.