People judge others by appearance. If you see a street thug I don’t think you’ll trust him with your wallet. But people can hide themselves really well. Popular kids, adults, and even people you trust hide themselves well.
I’ve had bad experiences that made me lose my trust in some adults. Teachers may or may not like their job, but I realize that they put on fake smiles and personalities for their students.
In freshman year, my friend and I entered a competition for free dates to winter formal. The deal was great: Free tickets, free dinners, a free limo ride, and girls we’d never have a chance to talk to. The dinner and the limo ride were the only time that the girls spent with us.
Jonathan Castro
[divider] [dropcap]Trust is when[/dropcap] I am able to tell a secret to someone and they’d be able to keep it. It’s when I tell someone about a problem in my life and I know they won’t make fun of me or judge me based on that problem.
The definition of trust can be easily understood, but the act itself of trusting tends to be harder for me.
There is not really any one person I can trust wholeheartedly and completely, but there are those I feel I can trust up to a certain point. Beyond that, I can only trust myself to really understand me.
For the most part, I trust my parents because I know they would never want to hurt me. I don’t have many close friends. Those that I do have, I believe I can trust. I also know that my friends at The kNOw would listen to me if I needed.
Along the journey to where I am today, I’ve learned not to trust people so easily based on past experiences with lying, backstabbing, and gossiping. Even though they’ve hurt me, I’ve learned to be careful about choosing my friends and people who I can trust.
Denise Yang
[divider] [dropcap]Once trust is gone,[/dropcap] there is no hope in a relationship. Trust is the root to any relationship whether it is a friend, girlfriend/boyfriend, or family. If there is no trust between you and your friend then he or she is not your friend.
I ran into a time when my mom lost my trust. It was very hard to tell her anything. Every single thing I did, she always questioned if I was telling the truth or not. It was a Saturday afternoon; I was bored out of my mind. So then I lied to my mom and told her I had football practice so I could go out. Little did I know, my mom eventually figured it out later on that day.
Every time I went out after that, she would ask me if I was lying or not. “Mom, I’m going to volleyball practice now,” I told her once as I left. “Are you sure it’s volleyball practice, or is it that you’re going to your friend’s house?” she answered. The fact is, the trust I lost never really gained back. She will always have that mindset that I am possibly lying.
Parents are smarter than they seem, even if they can’t speak English or if they can’t read. Do not ever underestimate your parents!
Vang Yang
[divider] [dropcap]I trusted[/dropcap] my old friend; she was like a sister to me. She betrayed me by pretending she was really my friend for one whole year. It all started when we found out we liked the same guy. Then, she began to dislike me for some reason. I didn’t really care because I don’t fight or argue over guys at all. From the beginning of our friendship, I told her that, but I guess she just wouldn’t listen.
We got down to the bottom of it and she told me that she wasn’t really my friend and that she used me to get closer to the guy that we both liked. I told her I didn’t care because there will be more friends better that her to come.
Te’Lona Love
[divider] [dropcap]I think[/dropcap] I can trust my mom, dad, brothers, and sister. I can also trust my best friend and most or everyone in The kNOw. To get my trust, you have to not lie to me, not talk behind my back, and be someone I know I can talk to about anything.
If someone betrays me, the way they can get my trust back is by being honest and showing me that I can trust them. If someone talks behind my back or if they lie, I can’t trust them anymore.
It’s hard when you can’t trust someone because you feel like they’re going to do something like hurt you, like tell someone something you don’t want people to know.
Kristine Balliet
[divider] [dropcap]I trust friends[/dropcap] that are very close. I trust my family on occasions. I think what it takes to trust someone is to know the person very well and have some kind of friendship or relationship already established. If someone betrays me, I think what it takes to gain my trust back is an honest apology, and make up for whatever they did to lose my trust.
Brian Phetthavong
[divider] [dropcap]Trust is one[/dropcap] of my main qualities, but it takes a lot for a person to gain my trust due to horrible things in my past.
When you are young, you are very trusting. As you age, this trust lessens. It’s like a very real virus that gets worse as time passes. Sadly for me, I caught that horrible virus and now it’s killing my hope of a happy life.
Every day this virus grows as people break down my happiness. It overcomes my life and is my main concern. I’ve only had two cures for this virus: God, and my best friend.
God has been there every step of the way. He gives me life, even as the virus grows.
My bestie has been there since day one and always is my sunshine to my frequent storm. She’s the true meaning of what it’s like to be trustworthy. I love her to death. Really, outside of my family, she’s the only one I can trust. Well, I trust some family members, but not at all times. There’s been numerous times when people, friends, and family members lost my trust, and that’s just sad.
Kevin Shelton
[divider] [dropcap]Trust is a big issue[/dropcap] that everyone has to go through in order to build a good relationship. For me, I trust people gradually as I continue to talk to them and get to know them personally. Usually, trusting people is hard because I’ve had bad experiences with trusting people before.
I used to be able to trust my family and friends fully with my personal situations, but now I keep things to myself. I feel like the only person I can really trust is myself – everyone else may be judgmental.
When I trust someone and tell them something personal about me, the worst outcome I can imagine is that they’ll tell everyone else and rumors about me will spread. I don’t appreciate it when people spread false rumors and only I can be trusted to keep my secrets confidential.
If a person has ever betrayed me, then I tend to not trust him or her ever again. It’s hard to trust people that have betrayed me. It’s hard for me to let that person gain my trust again when I don’t know how or if they have changed. I trust my family and friends to an extent, but I still like to keep things to myself.
Bao Xiong
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
