English Class Group Portfolio

Fernando Trujillo Lopez

Gabriella Verge Astacio

Brianna Seda Parrilla

Minuer Zawahra Cepeda

Saint Francis School

English Class Section: 6

Ms. Anjelica Orfila

About the Authors

Fernando Trujillo ……………………………………………… Page 3

Gabriella Verge ……………………………………………… Page 3

Brianna Seda ……………………………………………… Page 3

Minuer Zawahra ……………………………………………… Page 3

Preface …………………………………………………………. Page 4

Memoirs

Fernando Trujillo ( The first time in Chick-fil-A , My grandpa’s last

Gabriella Verge ( My experience with bracers, My 15 years

Brianna Seda ( Parks and Roller coasters, First time in a

Minuer Zawahra (The first time I went to an amusement park , I experienced a global
Pandemic)……………………………………………… Page 14,15
About the Authors

Fernando Trujillo

Fernando Trujillo was born on November 21, 2006. He usually talks with his friends, plays
videogames o reads in his free time from school. He’s a very calm person, through his
experiences in life, he learnt the best way to solve conflict is having a calm approach to them.
When he was a kid, he fell off a chair and hit his head in the corner of a wall, this left him a bald
spot on the top of his head. Towering at 6’2, he normally stands out from everyone because of
his height.

Minuer Zawahra

Minuer Zawahra was born on August 9, 2006. His hobby is playing basketball, since he was 12
years old, he started going to basketball practices at his neighborhood. At 10 years old, Minuer
was playing with his friend at his house. There was a dog in his friend’s backyard, he thought
that it’d be safe to go play while the dog was tied to a leash, more wrong he couldn’t have been.
Quickly, after they had gone out to play, the dog freed himself from his restraints and bit Minuer
in his knee; it left him a scar on his knee that will never go away.

Brianna Seda

Her name is Brianna Seda , she was born in January 31, 2006. Brianna like to sleep and go out
in his free time. One of her hobbies are playing volleyball. Her goal after school is being able to
go what she wants to study. One of the qualities that make her unique is its personality.

Gabriella Vergé Astacio

Her name is Gabriella Vergé Astacio. She was born in August 21, 2006. She was born in San
Juan Puerto Rico. One of her hobbies is drawing. Her goal after high school is to go to a
university of arts. What makes her unique is that she always try to make everyone smile.
Preface

Although this project was a little difficult when it came to carrying it out, we were able to learn
something we have in common, which is the love of roller coasters / adrenaline. To choose the
memoir that will be presented, we all read the memoirs and agreed on which would be the
perfect memoir for the portfolio. Each of the memoirs have different meanings, whether they are
past experiences or moments that marked our lives. This memoir moved us and we wanted to
present it to our classmates. Since it has a special meaning, which is to move forward and never
take off. One of the most challenging parts was to make the preface part and the cover, although
we like similar things, each one has something different. But talking we were able to achieve
something in common that we all love. Thanks to this project we were able to get to know, even
if it was the minimum of each of us. At the beginning of this project we thought it was going to
be quite uncomfortable since we had no knowledge among us. But as we talked to be able to
look for something that we had in common we realized that we did have something in common.
Memoirs

Fernando Trujillo
The first time in Chick-fil-A

I had been told a lot about Chick-Fil-A before, but I’d never tried it before. I thought it was
gonna be good, but not life changing. I had gotten out of Adventure Island; I was hungry, and
felt like eating chicken. I told my mom I wanted to try out Chick-Fil-A, she agreed to it, and we
stared driving there.

We got to Chick-Fil-A by eight, surprisingly the sun was still out. My dad have me 20 bucks,
and told me to “go crazy”. I walked to the entrance with my dad’s sandals, I’d left mine back at
the parking lot of Adventure Island. The doors opened and I was prepared to try out Chick-Fil-A.

I stood behind where the line was supposed to be, and started thinking of what to order. Five
minutes had passed and I still hadn’t decided. The cashier told me, “are you ready to order”. I
responded no, after another 5 minutes had passed I went to ask her what she recommended. Just
as the words were going to exit my mouth, the cashier asked how tall I was. I was perplexed,
nobody had asked me that before. After 2 seconds of being stunned, I responded, “I’m 6’1”, she
responded, “you’re pretty tall, I nodded awkwardly. I finally got to ask her what she
recommended, she said “do you like spicy food, food that makes your mouth burn?”, I responded
yeah, I’m mexican”. It wasn’t a very good joke, so she didn’t laugh and stayed quiet. An
awkward silence happened before she recommended the Spicy Chicken Deluxe, I made my
order.

When I got back in the car and openened the bag in a hurry, I got this peacful odor, as if
everything inside alinged to make an orchestra of smell. I needed I appetizer for the main dish,
so I pulled put the nuggets. As the box was opened by me I saw the nuggets begging, as if they
wanted me to eat them. I couldn’t deny such a request, “crunch” was heard in the car.

An explosion of flavor happened in my mouth, my taste buds were changed. I didn’t expect it to
be life changing, but it changed how I looked at fried chicken. I was thinking if it could get any
better, so I opened the Chick-Fil-A sauce. Before i’d ever stepped on a Chick-Fil-A, I knew their
sauce was a topic of controversy. The packets were fought for, it grew chaos in the store,
everyone wanted to take all they could to their homes. Imagine my excitement when I was going
to try out their sauce. Another “chomp” could be heard in through the car, I couldn’t believe it,
somehow the sauce had made it two times better. The Sauce had toppled any other sauce i’ve
tried before, it was like a combination of all the greatest sauces I’ve had. My parents started to
get curious, so I gave them both nuggets dipped in sauce, they agreed with me, it was as
delightful as I had said it was.

We started driving away from the location, my godmother had called to tell us about the things
she needed from Publix. As we parked in Publix, and my parents were starting to get out of the
car, I called some friends show them the great meal I was gonna try. My camera was on, it
showed how I pulled the Spicy Chicken Deluxe, needless to say, it was the best chicken
sandwich I’d eaten. As we were talking about the sandwich, my parents came back. I hanged up
and we started to drive away.

The day was over, I tried Chick-Fil-A and had to go back to the house. The night quickly came
over the skies, it was like it symbolizing the end of my journey. I knew that I had just had the
best dinning experience, that I had not enjoyed food like this anywhere else, but I couldn’t help
being sad. I had just ended a great moment, then everything went back to normal, I was not
prepared to get down from that. I then remembered that there were still a couple of days left,
before the trip ended, so I cheered up. “I’m probably going to Chick-Fil-A again”, I said to
myself. I’ll never forget the first time I had Chick-Fil-A.

My grandpa’s last days

I’ve blocked my self from the memories about my grandpa, up until now where I am writing this.
My grandpa was an veteran from the Vietnam War. He used to do a lot of things like walking,
cleaning and driving, until his health started deteriorating. He started looking different, but I was
a child, I didn’t really notice. We started visiting him less and less, my mom said it was because
we didn’t have the time, it really didn’t make sense to me.

One day I went to my grandparents house, we had not visited them in 3 weeks, and I was really
pushing my mom to go. I walked up the stairs to the house, it was weird, I usually saw my
grandpa in the first floor taking care of the garden. I ignored my grandpa not doing what he does
usually, “maybe he had done it earlier in the day”, I thought. I ignored it and kept pushing
through the stairs.

My grandma greeted me when I finished going up the stairs, I gave her a big hug and a kiss on
the cheek. She told me that my grandpa couldn’t come outside and welcome us, he wasn’t
feeling too well. I got sad when she said this, me and my grandpa normally played with whatever
I wanted; either with broom sticks, balls or just playing games like hide and seek. My grandma
offered me some food, I declined since I wanted to see my grandpa.

The room was dull, the air conditioner was turned on, it seemed like a hospital room. My
grandfather was laying in bed sleeping, I woke him up gently and gave him a hug with the best
of my abilities. He asked how I was, how school was going, if I liked any girls, the typical thing
a grandfather would do. This cheered me up, he seemed like he was doing fine, it was just a cold.
My body was getting cold so I got out and did what I normally did in my grandparents home.

I was eating dinner with my family, and then we start hearing loud coughing, it soon turned
violent and my parents and grandma went to check on him. My parents had gotten out of the
room and started telling us to get out things, because we were leaving. I asked them why, it was
not that late and we could stay for a couple more hours, they ignored it and ten minutes after we
started driving away. In the car I asked them what was going on with grandpa, he wasn’t looking
very good today, they told me he was just dealing with a cold.

The next time I visited my grandpa was at the veterans hospital. His health deteriorated quickly
after the last time I had visited him. I was starting to get worried, but my parents reassured me it
was fine. The waiting room was pretty comfortable, I didn’t get to see my grandfather, I was a
little kid so they couldn’t let me enter. I got mad at the hospital because they didn’t let me see
him.

Over the next few months we kept visiting him, sometimes they would even let me sneak into the
room so I could see him. He seemed to be back to his usual self, just confined to a hospital bed. I
stopped worrying about my grandfather after a while, he seemed to be getting out soon. School
started picking up the pace, so we visited him less, my parents said that me and my sister needed
to do well in school.

One day visiting the hospital we even went to an open area inside the hospital, we picked some
“kenepas” from a tree that was there and ate them with my grandpa. I was really sure that we
would get out soon, that we would get to play hide and seek together like we used to. It was only
a matter of time until my hopes were crushed. My grandfather started getting worse again, he
was not only battling his physical condition, his schizophrenia got worse too. After a while of
this happening, my parents stopped sneaking me in to his room. We went to the hospital after
school one day, strangely, my parents snuck me into the room. I saw a movie with him, then I
said, “goodbye, I love you”. The next week we got a call from my grandma, she told us about a
conversation she had with my grandfather, he told her that he felt like he was dying that same
day. Hours later we got a call from the hospital saying that he had passed out and we need to
rush to the hospital. My parents were about to leave, we got a call from the hospital again, my
grandfather had passed away,
Gabriella Verge
My experience with bracers

Nobody told me it was painful

Even though I have my brackets since 6 grade I want them off

It all started we I wanted to have brackets. This was around 5 grade (I’m all ready on 10 grade
make the count). My mom took me to an orthodontist. I was excited for this because I wanted to
have perfect teeth and all that stuff. What I wasn’t aware its that having brackets means that you
need to stop eating some things and I will hurt. The 10 yearold Gaby was only thinking that it
would be cool having them and it would make me “special”. (Don’t judge me plis I was a kid).

I finally got my brackets all done. What do I mean? I mean that they first put me the cube and
send me to take put 6 teeth so they could put the line that conects the little cubes. In 6 grade I
hadded all set and I was regretting my decision. The orthodontist told me that it was going to be
only 2 years, My mon look at me and told me
-you won’t have them on your 15 birthday
Guess what….I still have them on

The orthodontist say that 6 months more and I would have them off. He said that 2 visits and
then he stopped talking about it. I want them off but at the same time I don’t. Its s weird thing
because they all ready part of me BUT it’s hurting my mouth very badly this last 3 visits. I want
to see my teeth lined up and looking perfect all ready. Its has been my dream.
My 15 year birthday

Even tho there was a pandemic That was the best day of my life

My 15 birthday was an experience that I would never forget

So, for my 15 birthday I didn’t want an actual party. My perfect gift was an vacation to disney.
Sadly my mom didn’t found an hotel to stay in so we couldn’t go. But that doesn’t matter
because I would probably go to disney on dicember or for the next summer of 2022. Anyways I
got out of the topic, my mom decided to rent a house on Fajardo from Friday to Monday. She let
me invite 3 friends to stay with me on the house till Sunday sou they could go to school on
Monday. My mom planned my party for like 3 months.

I didn’t really hadded like a theme for the larty but we found a cake of the beauty and the beast
that was wonderful. My mom made my cake and it really look gorgeous. The house hadded 3
rooms 2 of them with a double bed an one of the rooms hadded 4 beds and a couch that can turn
into a bed. The house hadded a pool that was really cool. It was pretty big and I wanted to stay. I
remeamber saying to my mom to buy the house to live there.

The day has come and I was excited because my dad an another friend were coming and Injust
couldn’t wait. It was a really good party we hadded a candy bar, cake popsicles and like a flower
made up with Ferreros and kisses. We hadded golden boxes with a blue ribbon inside it hadded a
soap but designed to smell like a birthday cake and it hadded sprinkles on the top and glitter. For
the food we hadded lasagna and rice.

I have alot of amazing gifts. I got a kit to draw, a desk, things of bakugou and money. It was
really fun this birthdays and if I could I would go back time just to live that experience again. I
learn that even if you don’t get what you expected you may get something better. I also learn to
be grateful with what we get and with what we have because at least we have something with us
and we are alive and we have family that love us.
Brianna Seda
Parks and Roller coasters

New memories , new experiences that make me happy

When I am in the roller coasters I feel , free , motivated , excited , anxious when I’m waiting I
the line.

I was in Orlando with my mom , dad, and cousin , I was very excited to be there in
the parks and having a good time. I was very happy and motivated to go to the parks , go to
chick fil a and try it for the first time, was very yummy I was obsessed, I wanted more, and been
in the roller coasters , that is something that I enjoy so much, is one of my favorite things to do
when I’m in Orlando/ the parks, And going to the mall , experiencing new things there. We have
a good time , a lot of laughs , screams , angry moments , waiting, a little of everything.

But in general I have a really good time in Orlando with my fam , I eat a lot , and tried
a lot of foods. Walked a lot ,sweat a lot , run , waited long time in the lines. But when was the
time to come back to Puerto Rico I was very sad , and happy at once , because of course I miss
my bed and my house , but sad because I don’t wanted too leave , I love too ride in the roller
coaster and being in ones that are knew and try them.
 First time in a concert

The concerts make me feel free, motivated, happy and empowered

I was so excited to go and scared at the same time! Because was my first time going to a
concert.

I was there with my aunt , cousin , and my cousins friend. I was very nervous to go ,
because was my first time in a concert and I didn’t know what to expect , I had no idea , what
was going to happen , But in the other hand i was so excited, buying my fit for that day ,getting
dressed and all pretty. Was Justin Bieber concert, I was a really big fan of Justin’s, I don’t heard
him as much as I heard him before, but I like his old songs a lot. They bring me a lot of
flashbacks of my childhood.

When we appeared I stared screaming, laughing , I was so exited and happy of being
there , and I pass a good time , I finish with out voice , but I was feeling good . That’s a different
type of excitement , been in a concert , I love them to be honest , its like a therapy literally,
because you scream , sing the songs no matter what, and you have a great time singing all the
songs, and you get excited when you see the artist in the stage , it’s like wow I’m seen him
literally in my face , I enjoy it so much. I was so fortunate of being there and having a really
good time with the family, an experiencing new things and I never thought it would happen.
Minuer Zawahra
The first time I went to a amusement park

The first time I went to an amusement park I was super excited going because I've never been to
one when I was a little kid, but I wanted to go in this specific ride and I couldn't because I was a
few inches shorter, and I remembered I was crying that whole time and my stepfather came up
with an idea he went the store that was located inside the amusement park and bought some
socks and by putting those socks in the shoe it may be a few inches taller and then when I came
back a few hours later into that ride they let me in, and I was so happy because I want to ride that
specific ride and when they buckled me in something happened I felt the seat belt a little loose,
and they started the ride, but I didn't think of it as much when we were hitting corners pretty fast
it was getting looser and looser, and I was holding the seat belt, so it didn't open and throw me
off the ride then when the ride finished I told my mom and my mom was freaking out but at the
end of the day I came out a life one year later passed, and I told my father the story, and he
couldn't believe it how those amusement park machines could be such a danger in today's age.
But when a went to sea world the past summer, everything turned out perfectly fine that day. But
after a couple of months past, I haven't been on a roller-coaster since.
But now my mom has a phobia with amusement parks in general, but she still goes on them
because my stepfather forces her to go on it to face her fears about it, which is understandable,
but I don’t think she’s ever going to face her fears, to be honest
But my mom hasn’t been in one in a year but why she was this phobia to amusement parks and
roller coasters I guess we won't know for a long time from now on but I guess we can't change it.
I experienced a global pandemic

Experiencing a global pandemic at 15 years old and I never imagen this kind of thing can
happened in are world today
This is going to be about the lockdowns in Puerto Rico and how it damage the economy in
Puerto Rico and different parts of the world. And how people felt in those desperate times mad,
sad and whit no money
Well the lockdowns were not easy for anyone I had to study online at my house and my little
brother at my grandmas and I faced a few shares of challenges I was stressed being in the house
all the time no way of seeing my friends and family. And that was boring the world was
changing around all of us. And people were losing their jobs all over around.
How this experience change me well it made me realize how grateful you need to be when you
have family all around you and being alive and having a home an education , food ,money and
living a normal live every day.