The most influential person in my life is no other than my grandmother, "Kemin", who had the most wonderful and kind-hearted personality I've ever known in my life. Of course, I've wonderful relatives, friends and loved-ones like my husband, but nobody compares to my grandmother, who made great impact on my personality during those seventeen, tender years of growing up in her custody.

My grandmother's real name is Imelda Agsicio Pulacan, a typical Filipina, popularly known as "Kemin" in our village, someplace around Baguio City, Philippines. I could say she's a wonderful person because of her unconditional love, generosity, perseverance, determination and humble positive outlook in life. With her mediocre education and knowledge, she persevered in bringing up me and my kid sister. When I was three years old, my parents separated and left us to my Grandma's care and sought their own way of life.

Grandma Kemin treated me and my kid sister like her very own flesh and blood, with so much devotion. With her immense determination to provide us a good life, she worked hard almost everyday notwithstanding all the difficulties and hardship of life. She'd seize every opportunity in any work, just to provide food and shelter for the family of four that comprises her and grandpa Felix (a retired veteran), my sister and I. She was the breadwinner, while grandpa, my sister and I help each other in the house chores. Grandma's one of a kind, who wants to give everything for the people she dearly loves. She'd been a devoted, selfless person. I'll always remember those times when she wanted to buy something for herself but ended up buying a better quality of shoes and clothes for my sister and me. I knew she'd willingly gave her own food for us is we needed more. She accommodated us the best she could physically, morally and emotionally. She provided for me and my kid sister's education until we finished high school. Actually she wanted to give us a higher education but her age and health caught up with her.

Whenever Grandma had time, she'd always devoted for us to teach us good moral character, before tucking us into bed. Besides the Golden Rule: "Do not do unto others what you won't like others do unto you", she'd embedded in our minds, she's the first person who taught us to pray the Lord's Prayer in our own dialect. The most repeated advice she'd gave us is: "To always take good care of each other no matter what life brings", and to study hard because good education was the only gift and treasure she could leave behind, which nobody can steal from us. There are also lots of good and inspiring experiences my grandma Kemin shared to me. Every weekend and holiday, I'd always accompany and help her in either going to the mines for gold panning or vending wooden, or stone key chains and ashtrays that my grandfather and I did at home, at the city parks and sidewalks. She'd always tell me to be proud no matter how hard or what kind of job I do, for as long as it's decent and I work hard for it, the fruit of labor is gratifying.

Without that unconditional love and gracious support grandma gave me and my sister, we wouldn't be what we are today. We may never had the comfort of materialistic life other people have, but the wisdom, good foundation of life and principles taught to us would be efficient enough as a tool while I'm growing older. I may not be the best person she wanted me to be, but I'm pretty sure she'd be very proud of what  I've accomplished for now. I think she was the best gift God had ever given to us and I would always cherish those memories and times I had with my grandmother whom I adore as a mother, best friend and mentor for the rest of my life.

RVG

A Hero

Have you ever had so many heroes that you have looked up to? I have and every single one of them is very special to me! There is one individual who sticks out the most to me; that is my wonderful mom! She is the best person I know. She is very family oriented, a wonderful house wife and she is there when you need her.

My mommy spends all of her time with her children and grandchildren no matter how she feels. She is the most dedicated person I know. My mom spends alot of her time doing things that I need to do for college such as driving me to school and helping me to get my work done. When I have a question she is there to help me out as much as possible. She has been there for me through everything. Even when I'm moody and yelling she puts up with alot more then most people would.

My mom is a stay at home mom and house wife; however, for her that is a full time job. She cooks, cleans, and does the laundry. My mom does everything! She is the base of the house hold; without my mom the house would fall apart. I remember that no matter what was going on when the school bus ran, mom had supper on the table waiting for us.

Mom has always been there for me when I needed her. She is the one who everyone turns to when there is a problem or a question we don't have the answer to. My mom is the one that has all of my trust because I know no matter what happens my mom will never turn her back on my brother, my sister, or me. Mom is always there when she is needed.

Friends may come and go, but your mom will never leave. Your mom, mommy, mother, whatever it is you may call her is with you for life, and she is your best friend. You may not notice it now but you will when you move out or you're going through a tough time, and she is the one helping you through it. Your mom will be the one there greeting you at the door when you come in to visit her if you've been gone or just coming in from work/ school. She is there to dry your tears or provide a shoulder to cry on, and when you need a hug she is there with arms wide open.

Responsibilities

As I have gotten older my responsibilities have changed. When I was a little kid I only had a few responsibilities that my parents gave me. They wanted to make sure that I understood the consequences that could affect my life. Now as I am coming into the adult world my responsibilities have gotten more serious.

Some young kids do not have big responsibilities, but some kids have huge responsibilities depending on their situation. When I was a little girl my parents gave me some responsibilities like feeding animals every night, keeping my room clean, and getting up in time for school every morning. They never made it a big deal if I forgot to do something; they just made sure that I understood some of the consequences that would happen. I have been told that if I didn't feed the animals or give them water they could starve or become dehydrated. If I didn't get up for school on time and they noticed, they would come and see if I felt fine and make sure I got up to make it on time so I didn't miss any class work or important information that would be taught. The responsibility of keeping my room clean was going to help me with organization skills, and if there was an emergency my parents would be able to get to me safely without having to trip over anything.


With becoming older I have realized that I have important responsibilities such as paying bills, getting to college classes on time, and getting all my homework done on time. Although I don't have to pay bills quite yet, I have learned that if they are not paid on time they can end the supply. Since I have to pay to go to college, it is a big responsibility to make sure I am not late or miss information that would be taught. Also, it is important to make sure I do the homework that is assigned, so I don't end up flunking the class.

Responsibilities become more important as we get older. Some responsibilities are the same from when we are young to, as we get older. If my wonderful parents did not teach me the importance with responsibilities, then who knows where I would end up, not being able to take care of my family or myself.

Amber Kirchner

The Challenges of Being a Firefighter

The challenges faced by a professional fire department are numerous. But here’s the top four problems faced: recruitment, funding, manpower, and morale.

Because professional fire departments are not always paid a regular salary, getting people to join is a major challenge faced on a daily basis. Most of the time, people look to see how much money they will make. When they find out that they only get a Christmas bonus, often times they change their mind.

Funding is a concern because everything has to be approved before being able to purchase. Situations may arise when people need gear; it needs to be approved. New tools need to be approved first. It may take days, weeks, even months before it will be approved. Meanwhile you just have to make do with what you got.

Manpower during the day and early morning is a challenge because people work during the day and need sleep. Sometimes trucks will roll out of the station under manned for calls, and sometimes it’s no problem, but when a truck rolls out with only three people to a house fire, you got a problem.

Morale is an issue due to firefighters getting tired of going on stupid calls and not getting anything in return, which brings up a very old but very true saying “You gotta love what you do.” Being a volunteer firefighter takes a lot out of somebody but when you love firefighting as much as firefighters do its no problem. I have been a firefighter for three years and I love it, I love the fact of when everything goes wrong, and we come rolling up people seem to get a feeling of relief.

In closing, I would like to say that firefighting is something that not everyone is cut out to do. Firefighters are a special breed of people. Even though we face several challenges, we seem to make everything seem better.

Philip Perry