This past week, students at Phoenix Alhambra High School have shared stories of gratitude — for a mom who leaves tacos on the nightstand, a great grandma with important life lessons and a sister who sets the pace at the gym. Their essays are part of The Show's SOAPBOX series with the theme: "Thanks."
Brittany Perez Sanchez, an 11th-grader who has played five different sports and loves to listen to music and be with friends, explains what she’s grateful for.
BRITTANY PEREZ SANCHEZ: In my life, I am grateful for many things, but I am more thankful for my church. My church is the place I feel the most safe. I go to Ministerio Casa Del Rey. I have gone to that church for over seven years now.
I was Catholic and converted to Christianity. I am grateful because they taught me how to love myself and stay close to God. I am thankful for the many memories we made and for the experiences we shared. They showed me how to make friends and how to forgive someone. They showed me how to become a better person and how to live a happier life. My church taught me how to get along with people. I cherish many memories of my church, and I’m friends with the youth of my church.
Much of my time and peace is in church. They helped me get through many stages of my life. They helped me through my anxiety attacks, downfalls, and problems in my life whether it was in my love life, school, home, or myself. This reminds me of a time a couple of weeks ago when I was at a church event, and I got emotional and had an anxiety attack.
The eldest daughters of my church’s pastor's children helped me out and prayed for me in those moments of weakness. I remember that the eldest daughter of our pastor, Emily, said to me, “Entrégale tus problemas y ansiedad a Dios y él te ayudará mientras oramos por ti y él quitará esos problemas y estrés que tengo y él te sanará” (Give your problems and anxiety to God, and He will help you as we pray for you and he will take away those problems and stress that I have and he will heal you). When Emily told me this, I was happy I had someone there to help me out with my problems.
During October of this year, my church and my family went to a pumpkin patch. It was a fun experience. We went and talked about the pumpkin patch, we ate food, and we went to the corn maze. I got lost with my cousins and their parents. We were stuck for 2 hours in the maze, and we were tired and thirsty. I remember my younger cousin said, “We aren't getting out of this place, I’ll faint now”. She was being dramatic at that moment, and I was like “Really girl, stop being way too dramatic”.
Around 10 minutes later, we got out and she ran to get water. Soon she fell asleep on the hay that was everywhere and her older brother had to take her home. The rest of our church was able to get out of the corn maze, and we all went out to eat at In-N-Out. Every Wednesday and Sunday we have church. We all pray for each other and small children are learning from their parents and soon we will be the new generation of our church.
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For the latest SOAPBOX essay collection, The Show invited students of high school English teacher Carrie Deahl for their take on the theme. Deahl's student, ninth-grader Ciara Espinoza, shared a story about her great grandma.
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In honor of Thanksgiving week, we've asked students of Carrie Deahl at Alhambra High School in west Phoenix to tell us what they're grateful for.
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Brittany Perez Sanchez, an 11th-grader who has played five different sports and loves to listen to music and be with friends, will explain what she’s grateful for.
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Expressions of love can take many forms. For 16-year-old Vada Santos, it’s waking up to tacos on her nightstand.