Cassidy Perez

Many people say, "If I have money, then I will be happy." This is true? No, it is not. In the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner, has everything, including money and then one day that is all taken from him. He now has to provide a way for him and his son to live. He never lets his son see their struggle. He never let the thought of being homeless affect him or his son's happiness. As we have learned in this class, money does not come anywhere close, to "buying happiness". Rather it is the flow and fluidity of our everyday lives that helps us maintain satisfaction. By creating a routine and having an ideal of what you to want to achieve in life, while combating that with a positive attitude, a person can truly achieve happiness. Csikszentmihalyi says,  "Happiness is not something that happens to people but something that they make happen,". This is what the whole movie is about. Chris never gave up on his dream to be happy and to create an ...

Ever since I was little, I was taught to be an adult earlier than I probably should have been. My dad's job is in home care for adults who have developmental challenges. I have had to call 911 when one of the "clients" fell and had a seizure. I have had to clean up projectile from bodily functions to make sure they did not feel embarrassed about themselves and lastly I have had to make sure they always have a smile on their face and do not hurt themselves because of their conditions. When I found out we had this opportunity to participate with young adults with developmental challenges for Call to Action Day, I was ecstatic. I felt like I was at home, and I felt like it was something I knew how to handle. I did have preconceptions about this group that we were being included with. I thought many of these young adults would refuse to participate, display an immense amount of anger and be very emotionally disturbed. I was very wrong. These were some of the happiest and most...

The best things that occurred on each day of September were: September 1st: Getting Organized September 2nd: Woke up 2 minutes before class started and arrived on time September 3rd: Talked to my mom September 4th: Felt extremely loved by one person September 5th: I received a smile back from everyone I smiled at September 6th: I face timed my best friend September 7th: I sang songs with my friends September 8th: Got home safely from San Francisco September 9th:  I went to my first college party September 10th: I helped save someone's life (their mental health) September 11th: My friend helped me remember my self worth September 12th: I displayed more patience with strangers than usual September 13th: My dad called to see how I was doing September 14th: Talking out my feelings September 15th: My family sending me a care package September 16th: Sleeping the entire night September 17th: Going to a dog shelter and volunteering there September 18th: First day at colle...

Well I failed... When my grandma and aunt came to visit me, I was beyond kind. I dropped everything I had going on for the weekend and made sure they knew how much I loved them and how much I appreciated their long trip up north to see me. Towards the end of the weekend, tensions of course started to rise. My grandma and aunt started to bicker and I would try and distract the other one by changing the subject. A couple of times, when my grandma started to get very judgmental towards my aunt, I complimented her and told her how much I loved her earrings which changed her mood completely and I knew I had accomplished something. Then the last day came and my grandma changed her judgmental ways from my aunt unto myself. I was alright with this, since I would rather take the anger from her than have my aunt endure it. But this time it was extreme. She judged the way I looked, the ways I am taking on school, the liberal ideals that I believe in, members of my family's sexuality and expla...

In Martin Seligman's  Flourish, it is discussed how  we should all display our strengths and be proud of what those are. We should practice them in a positive way and practice them when we are faced with a difficult situation. One of my strengths that I am proud to display is kindness.  This weekend my grandma and aunt are coming up north to visit me from Southern California. My grandma is very modest and often times can judge the activities I partake in. As soon as she arrives I will smile with the brightest smile I can manage and will greet her positively knowing that a judgement could be said at any time. I will display my strength of kindness and only show a kind heart back to her no matter how strongly she disagrees with whom I am as a person. The reaction she will long for is something I do not want to give her. I will try and "kill her with kindness" rather than stand up for something that will result in an argument. I plan to use this strength as my weapon. By st...