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Everything we hear is an opinion not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.

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When Mona Ruiz first starts coming to the police department, there are many rumors and ideas going around the department about her. These rumors were definitely not positive, and she was looked down by many because of things they heard about her. Mona was thought to be a spy for the F-Troop gang and was not trusted by the department. This is a result of Prejudice in the fellow police officer's thoughts. Just because of Mona's past gang life, and even her tattoo she was judged almost automatically by the police department. Even without knowing Mona, many of the cops believed these rumors floating around about her to be true. Despite these rumors, and negative attention Mona kept on learning, and moving forward eventually even gaining respect from the police department. She was able to achieve the things she did because she knew peoples thoughts were meaningless and the only thing that really matters is what she knows she is herself trying to achieve.

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Another theme Mona portrays was her mentality of moving forward, and not going back to her past.

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Mona does make many mistakes she writes about in the memoir, including her return to Frank after their abusive relationship. However, Mona learns to Move forward with her life and ultimately not return to her old ways. Mona was going through t pretty rough, suffering Frank's abuse, struggling with money, her newly born child, and at one part of the book another newly born child. When Mona has her second child, she eventually opened her eyes, and she realized "I have to leave, for me and my child's sake." She does end u leaving Frank, and later on moves forward in the police department. Another theme which contributes to this same idea was Mona's ambition and strive to move forward and not give up on the goals she had set. For example, when she was trying to get over the wall during the police academy. Even though Mona failed and failed, Tim after time, she never gave up and eventually got over the wall which was a very proud moment for Mona, and worth every ounce of struggle she went through to get over it. This wall represent the struggles of life, We do not control the mountain, only the climb. What this means is, no matter how hard something is to succeed or complete, every error is one more step closer to succeeding. Do not give up, you never know how close you really are, or what you are capable of.

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Although Mona has came a long way, she looks back on her past and gains a sense of pride in herself every single day.

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More towards the end of the book, another theme Mona writes about was the way in which she looks back on her past and gains a sense of pride. Many people sometimes, forget their origins and neglect their own roots after they succeed in their life, and make it out their struggles. However, it is important to remember and stay humble as a person. The last sentence of the book reads, "The image is a pierced but undying heart and it coils down my wrist. It is my past, and I am it." This very sentence displays Mona's humbleness and her acceptance of who she once was, as well as the life she once lived.

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Mona Ruiz never regrets any of her actions, or decisions she made in her past life. Mona in fact, looks back on her past life and tattoo every day proudly.

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Take something away from all mistakes made.

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Take something away from all mistakes made.

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In the memoir, at the end Mona writes , "valuable view I see when I look back on where I've visited during my climb to a new life." When saying this, Mona refers to her experiences and all the knowledge she gains throughout the gang life she lived. Her past life represents her hardships she went through to get to the point she is currently at, and makes her proud of herself as she has came a long way. Mona's past mistakes from getting jumped in to F-Troop, to returning to her abusive situation with Frank Ruiz, Tech her a lot of information, and life experiences she used to move forward in the future. A second example of Mona's biggest mistakes was going back to Frank even after the abuse she had suffered from him. Not only did she get back with him, she got pregnant again now bringing a second child into the world. mona quickly realizes Frank will never change, and with her newly coming baby she had to make a change herself for her and her children. Mona does eventually leave Frank, this time with the knowing not to go back to him, and a new strength within her.

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Mona Ruiz Learns to take responsibility for her own actions, and some things are to blame on her own decisions.

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Reading the book Two Badges You learn a lot about Mona, and she also portrays certain lessons she herself learned throughout her life. One of these lessons being to take responsibility for her actions and decisions. In one section of the autobiography, Mona says "The only person I could blame was myself." During this part of the book, Mona was going through a hard time with her Childs father and child. She was also trying to become a police officer while Frank was extremely unsupportive. A lot of Mona's hardships throughout this time was on Frank, but Mona accepted it was partly her fault for forgiving him, and getting back with him not realizing the abuse she thought was a "one time thing" would continue.