an essay about my future

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My Cultivated
Garden Essay
BY GABI
WIRTH
3/18/15
Period 3

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Do it now.
Sometimes ‘later’
becomes ‘never’

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25 PEOPLE WHO HAVE INFLUENCED MY LIFE
1. My Mom
2. My Dad
3. Caitlin
4. Adrianna
5. Shannon Hale
6. Jessica
7. Nathaniel
8. Carol Wirth
9. Tara
10. Hanna
11. Kyra
12. Sam
13. Percy
14. Beau
15. Coach Will
16. Coach Steve
17. Coach Joe
18. Sarah
19. Ben
20. Liz
21. Katie
22. Cece
23. Sammy
24. William
25. Patrick

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CONTENTS
Table of Contents................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chapter One ..................................................................................................................................................................1
My Future Career.......................................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 2 .......................................................................................................................................................................2
Future Family.............................................................................................................................................................2
Chapter 3 .......................................................................................................................................................................2
Travel Plans................................................................................................................................................................2
Chapter Four..................................................................................................................................................................2
How I Will Stay in Touch With My Friends.................................................................................................................2
Chapter Five...................................................................................................................................................................2
My Future Family’s Home..........................................................................................................................................2
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Berkeley's Campus.......................................1
Figure 2 Google's Caption..........................................3
Figure 3 Cal Berkeley .................................................3
Figure 4 My Sisters and I............................................2
Figure 5 My Cats ........................................................2
Figure 6 NYC Skyline ..................................................2
Figure 7 Talking on the phone ...................................2
Figure 8 Me With Friends ..........................................2
Figure 9 More Me With Friends.................................2
Figure 10 Craftsman ..................................................2
Figure 11 Oriental Garden .........................................2

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CHAPTER ONE
MY FUTURE CAREER
ver the past few years, I’ve
thought a lot about my
future, everything from my
sixteenth birthday to my retired life and
grandkids. But I’m not a very decisive
person so I haven't stayed with a career
choice for long. First it was a teacher, then
an illustrator, and then a pediatrician. But
I've always liked using computers and
figuring things out on them. I’ve heard a lot
about computer programming and I could
see myself doing it in the future.
We rely on technology for almost
everything today and it’s not going away.
Technology is advancing and I’d like to be a
part of creating things. The projected growth
of computer programmer jobs from 2010-
2020 is a 19% increase. I’ve realized that I
don’t know much about computer
programming which encourages me to think
about taking a class on it so I’m more
familiar to it. I know that there a lot of sites
that teach users how to code. For example,
code.org is a site that leads you to different
sites, depending upon what you choose to
learn. I could probably take a community
college course but I think I would be more
comfortable doing it online. I don’t have a
lot of time during the week, and I’m usually
busy on weekends, so I will most likely try
to learn coding skills during the summer.
I’ve heard that high school will pass quickly
so I want to take advantage of all the time I
have without responsibility by using my
time wisely. Learning basics of code on my
own would help me in college and might put
me a little ahead of others.
My parents have always encouraged
me to go to college. They want me to start
out in a community college and then transfer
to a four-year university, and I agree with
them. When I transfer to a four-year, I’d like
to go to a UC. I’ve started thinking that I
want to go to University of California
Berkeley. According to a list of Top 25
Ranked Computer Science Programs,
Berkeley is the only public university in the
top 5 in the world. It is said that Berkeley’s
computer science program is one of the most
respected program. I also might have a
better chance of getting in because my mom
and my grandma both went to Berkeley.
An entry level position makes
$44,145 - $70,373 per year as a computer
programmer and a senior-level salary is
$69,482 - $104,280 per year. The national
average salary in the United States is about
O
Figure 1 Berkeley's Campus

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$54,000, but in San Francisco the average is
39% higher than the regular national
average. But there are a lot jobs that one can
get with a computer science degree, which is
one of the reasons I would like to go into
that field. There are jobs like a database
administrator, games developer, or network
engineer. In the long run, I’d like to work
for a large company in Silicon Valley, such
as Google or Apple.
I know that my career plan might not
work out the way I wanted it to. I might not
get a good job at the company I want and I
should be prepared for that. There are a lot
of computer programmer jobs out there. If I
don't get a job at the company I want then I
would easily be able to find another one,
though it might not be the highest paying job
in the world. I have a feeling that I can
complete a computer science degree and get
a good job if I work hard, plan out my path
and stick with it.
Figure 3 Cal Berkeley
Figure 2 Google's Caption

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CHAPTER 2
FUTURE FAMILY
lot of people have a certain way
that they picture their future family.
A Mom and Dad, with two or three
kids. It’s what most kids think of when
asked about what they want their future
family to be like. And to be honest, I can’t
say that I picture it any different.
When I think that I’m ready enough,
I’d like to get married. I don’t think that I
should be too young though. I’d want to
really know what I was getting
myself into. My parents tell me not
to get married too young. They
say that it’s more likely to end in
a divorce. I agree with them that
I should be really sure before I
got married. Because if my
husband didn’t agree on big things
with me, it would become a problem. We’d
have to be on the same page about where to
live, and how to spend our money, and most
importantly, whether to have kids or not.
I have always wanted to have kids.
Not too many of them, because then I think
it could get too much. I think I’d like two or
three of them, and I’m not really picky about
gender because I wouldn’t be able to control
that even if I wanted to. I know how much
of a responsibility kids are, and so I’d like to
be a stay-at-home mom to them. But if I had
a career that was harder for me to just leave,
I would wait to have kids.
Growing up, my family did a lot of
things together. We would go somewhere
almost every weekend and I always had a lot
of fun. I’d want the same for my future
family too. My family has dinner together
every night. So I find that when I am eating
alone it can get boring. My future family
would have dinner together also. Over the
past 20 years family dinners have decreased
by 33% and family vacations by 28%. This
is mostly caused by
parents having to
work harder and
kids’ schedules
are becoming
more crowded.
But a
husband and
children is not the only
family members you can have. When I have
my own house I’d like to have a few pets. I
have always liked animals, ever since I
could remember. I would’ve liked to have
pets all while I was growing up but I only
got a cat about a year ago. Ever since then, I
couldn’t imagine living in a house without
one. I’d probably like one or two cats, and
anymore might be too much and possibly
one dog. Pets teach children responsibility
and empathy and can contribute to physical
and social development.
A

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Family can also be more than
immediate. I won’t be immediate family
with my sisters of parents when I’m older
with my own family, but I’d still like to be
close with them and keep in touch.
All in all, thinking about the type of
family you want in the future can help you
to know what you want so you can start
planning it out even more. I know it’s
probably a long way off, but it can be
interesting to think about.
Figure 4 My cats
Figure 5 My sisters and I
Figure 5 My Cats
Figure 4 My Sisters and I

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CHAPTER 3
TRAVEL PLANS
lthough I have never lived
anywhere except the house
that I live in now, and I have
never been out of the country, I have been to
a lot of places in America. It’s probably safe
to say that I like to travel and I hope I can
say that for the rest of my
life.
I think I’d like to
travel to the rest of the world
at different points in my life.
Places I’d like to travel to
are New York, England,
Ireland, Paris, Rome,
Venice, Greece, the
Caribbean, Australia, and
Egypt. Traveling takes a lot
of time, but I hope I can be able to go to all
of those destinations, maybe more.
Traveling during breaks from school
is when I’d go traveling, while I’m in
college. For example, I could go with
friends to New
York City during
winter break and
be at Times
Square on New
Year’s Eve. Or
during the summer
I could Travel
around the
Mediterranean. Of
course I know that
it probably won’t all work out exactly how I
want it to. There may be things that hold me
back from going on lots of trips, like money.
As a college student or someone that
just got out of college I may not have
enough money to travel, but if I save up
money and plan ahead for a trip that would
make it much more of a reality. I plan on
getting a job in high school and saving a
certain amount of money every month. That
could help me pay for trips that I want to go
on.
A
Figure 6 NYC SkylineFigure 6 NYC Skyline

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Even if I’m married with kids I’d
still like to go on some trips. Even just
getting out of town for a night would be fun.
I want to see the world, but it doesn’t have
to happen before I’m 30. Maybe the first
time I go down to the Caribbean would be
when I’m over 70 and retired. It’s fun to see
how other people live and the different
cultures, languages, and
traditions. I think it could put
my life in perspective and
actually help my life in other
areas of my life.
Traveling should be
part of everyone’s life, and I
hope it’ll be part of mine. Not
all the time, but not never
either. It can help you grow as
a person become closer with
the world as you grow.

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CHAPTER FOUR
HOW I WILL STAY IN TOUCH WITH MY FRIENDS
think that it's important for
everyone to have friends they
can confide in. Getting things off
my chest has actually really helped me
mentally. I’ve never been a very outgoing
person, so I don’t make many new friends,
so ones I’ve had for a long time are great.
Friends that I’ve had for a really long
time are helpful because I feel so
comfortable around them. I’d hate to ever
think that I wouldn’t be close with them, or
even talk to them someday. I know that as
we grow older we
may grow apart
and then go
separate ways
when high school
ends and we go
off to college. But
when I move away
or they do, I’d like
to still be close
with them and
keep in contact
with them.
Luckily, that’s
usually, not a problem these days. Texting,
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or Snapchat
are really easy ways to keep in contact with
someone. It’s so simple to see what
everyone is doing at that moment.
Social media isn’t the only method
of communication. Calling someone and
hearing their voice is a lot realer than
texting. Just talking on the phone with a
friend for 5 minutes to catch up keeps
friends close, no matter how far away you
are. In the future if my friends move away or
if I did eventually we’d get new friends, and
a different life which is sad to think about
right now. After graduating high school, and
then eventually college, I’ll probably lose
some friends but gain some too. If friends
are really far away, skype is another good
way to talk to friends
that are far away.
Using internet
is a huge form of
communication, but
it’s not the only one.
Writing letters can be
a lot more meaningful
to send to friends. I
know that getting mail
can be very exciting;
it means someone
cares enough to
personally write to you. Also, if some of my
traveling plans actually happen, I could send
post cards or gifts from wherever I am. I still
have some postcards that I got from friends,
and gifts they gave me from other countries.
I
Figure 7 Talking on the PhoneFigure 7 Talking on the phone

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They’re all small and probably inexpensive,
but it’s the thought that really counts.
Keeping up
with friends is really
important but think the
best way of keeping up
with friends is to
actually see them in
person. I might not as
often as I would like to
but I'd like to think
when I'm older having little reunions with
friends could be a lot of fun. When I think
about the future, I can picture myself
laughing and talking with a group of friends
in a cafe catching up
and having a good
time. Good friends are
hard to come by so
when I get some, I
want to be able to
have them forever.
Figure 8 Me with friends
Figure 9 Me with friends
Figure 8 Me With Friends
Figure 9 More Me With Friends

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CHAPTER FIVE
MY FUTURE FAMILY’S HOME
have thought about my future family
before, but I’ve also imagined them in a
home owned by me. I’ve seen the way
different people run a household, and I’ve
seen the way my mom does too. I’ve pretty
much developed an opinion on how I’ll run
things when I have my own house. It’s not
just about how I’ll run it though; it’s also
about what it’ll look like.
Though I have
no idea where I might
live in the future, I
know it’ll be in
California. There are
certain styles of houses
that I like. For
example, I like
craftsman, colonial
revival, and modern,
and beach house.
Hopefully I’ll be able
to have my pick of all
these styles of houses.
I love places that make
me feel relaxed. If I
could have a backyard of my choice I’d like
a big backyard. One with big shady oak
trees in part of it and a small pond with fish
and frogs and a sunny garden with benches
in another part.
I also like the way the insides of
houses look. I think in modern styled houses
the interior looks elegant but I also feel like
it doesn’t seem lived and a little bare. I want
a clean, pretty interior, but I want to make it
seem like no one lives there. I’m not the
neatest person in the world, but its a little
mess that makes it seem like it’s actually a
home. Kitchens with brown wood and
marble countertops with stainless steel
appliances look really nice to me.
Keeping up with a house is also
really important in a household. And an
unclean house is unhealthy. I'll make sure
that I keep my house clean. I know from
personal experience that if something's clean
you're less likely to put things on it and
make it messy. Assuming that I have the
I
Figure 10 CraftsmanFigure 10 Craftsman

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family that I described in Chapter Two, I'll
make my children also help out and give
them chores.
Another important factor in a
household is pets. I'd like to have to have a
backyard that accommodates pets. Not just
cats or dogs though, animals like chickens. I
like the idea of eating eggs that I saw where
they came from. And the same for fruit and
vegetables. A large vegetable garden where
I can plant the vegetables in season.
I know that life isn’t perfect, so
everything I think of will not turn out
perfectly. But if I try, I could get pretty
close, and that’s good enough for me.
Figure 11 Oriental gardenFigure 11 Oriental Garden

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