If I were a multi-billionare..

If I were a multi-billionaire, I would donate about 20% of my annual income to various charity organizations. I would create my very own charity foundation (Joshua Saves the World Foundation) for starving children and families in remote areas around the world. Before I can accomplish this task, I would help my home, the island of Saipan, escape from economic distress and its going recession if it still exists. A proper sports complex and soccer stadium will be built along with a gym for every school on the island. More recreational swimming pools and sidewalks will be constructed to promote walking. I would also help sponsor an island-wide cleanup. A state-of-the-art recycling center will be constructed to help promote a healthy environment. Food will be donated to schools in order to help money-deficient families. I would hire specialists to help discover and remedy the problems found in our beaches and reefs to help restore what was once a healthy, prosperous marine environment. Libraries would also be constructed in every village with enough books to satisfy the local schools’ curriculum. I would use my business relationships with fellow associates to promote the island’s ability to help incorporate and introduce new businesses. The hospital will be remodeled to fully cater to the needs of patients. I would hire doctors from around the world to work at our local hospital due to the lack of specialists and doctors at CHC.

Best.Holiday.Ever.

My favorite holiday is Christmas. From the start of the month of December to the end New Years’ Day are my favorite days of the whole year because of the Christmas spirit everyone possesses. Unlike the rest of the year, the holidays are reserved for merry and joy among different people. My most cherished Christmas memory occurred during the Christmas of ‘99. That Christmas we all tried to buy the best decorations and gifts and prepare for the new millennium by buying half a thousand dollars’ worth of fireworks. It was the earliest Christmas memory I could remember because I was only six years old at the time. Before we would arrive at my grandma’s house (which is where we had our Christmas dinner) my entire extended family attended a Christmas mass at Kristo Rai. While the mass was still going on, I met up with my friends outside the church and played tag with some other kids. A six-year old boy’s most wanted gift at the time was a Nintendo 64 or a Sony PlayStation. I was a huge Nintendo fan boy at the time and therefore I wanted the new Zelda game which was the ‘Ocarina of Time.’ It was the first game I unwrapped and after our Christmas dinner along with my brand new Nintendo 64, my cousins and I played our very first gaming session of Legend of Zelda. I remembered everyone being very happy and complacent.
That Christmas was the best Christmas I ever spent so far. I spent it with friends, both new and old, as well as the family I loved. Although each Christmas after that became less and less exciting compared to the Christmas of ’99, Christmas will always be my favorite holiday.

If I were to choose where to die...

If I were to choose where to die, it would be at the top of Mt. Tapochau overlooking Saipan. I wouldn’t want to die anywhere else but my home island. When I was little, my family and I would take camping trips to various areas around the island. Managaha, Forbidden Island and Mt. Tapochau were popular places to camp at the time. My brother and my cousins would race along the roads to the peak of the mountain. We would host barbeques and family parties near the camping areas. It will always be one of the few places where I would feel at peace. Unless I meet death unexpectedly, I wouldn’t mind experiencing the view of the island as my final view. If I had to choose the exact time of the day when to die, it would be around dusk. The orange-yellowish glow of the sun as it finally sinks into the horizon has always been both captivating and beautiful. If my parents were alive or if I have a family of my own at the time of my death, I would want them to be present at my death. My parents were responsible for the best years of my childhood and the worst and I think they deserve to be with me in my final hours.

'PG. 143'

When I was 13, I remembered the first days of high school. High school wasn’t at all new to me. I recognized the same familiar faces of friends I have seen throughout elementary and junior high. For the first couple of days, I stuck by close friends. Friends are probably the only reason I made it through the first couple of years of high school. In my freshmen year, I attended Grace Christian Academy and if I were to compare my freshmen year and sophomore year and figure out which year I enjoyed the most, it would be sophomore year. In GCA, we were restricted from many things that SIS allows freely. Laptops, eating in classrooms, and decent classrooms were privileges that GCA lacked. I did not have many opportunities to socialize in GCA because of block periods and that breaks between classes were either short or non-existent. I made a lot of friends in SIS and relationships that already existed became close. The teachers in SIS are far better than the teachers in GCA, and they have shaped me into who I am today, especially my homeroom teacher of my junior year, Mr. Lee. He gave me good grades for my blogs in Communications class. There was a blog entitled ‘On pg. 143’ and he gave me a high score due to its accurate statements. I also remembered he wasn’t a great basketball player either. =S