Goodbye and Good Luck

     This year has been the best year of my life by far. I will never forget the people I've met or the things we've done. My favorite memory from this year is probably the Music Man and just being included in such an amazing experience. The arts saved my life; the department means everything to me. Being involved in the arts taught me to love myself- something I could never bring myself to do before high school. The most important thing I've learned, however, is just to love. Love everyone. Love yourself, love your friends, love the Lord. You have nothing if you don't have love. 
     There are three things I would tell the upcoming freshmen. First, be okay with who you are. If you go through freshman year feeling self-conscious, you will feel that way for the rest of high school. Don't worry what people say about you. You can NOT please everyone, and all that drama is catty and petty. To be blatantly honest, it ruins the year if you let people's opinions get to you. Just be yourself and LOVE it. You're a pretty awesome person, people just don't know it yet. Second, find your group of friends. A group of friends that love you and accept you is THE most important thing to have this year. You will need people to fall back on when you can't handle life yourself. My friends are everything to me, I literally would not be here right now without them. I'm not going to tell you you have to go find a boyfriend/girlfriend.... but he's helped me tremendously also. In addition to friends, find where you belong. Sports, drama, choir, whatever you love best. That will become your family. Lastly, work hard. My only regret this year is not doing my best and slacking off. This is going to KILL me later, and I'm really not looking forward to it. Don't skip homework- zeros are NOT okay. Homework is the most important, it boosts your grade SO much. All the freshman teachers are AWESOME. Despite what you might think, they love you and just want the best for you. 

   

The Value of Freedom

In the novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, readers are provided with symbolism and themes. The theme that stood out most to me was the value of freedom. Most people these days take our freedom for granted. We have never been without it, so we don't know how much it means to be free. In this novel, readers see the years following the Civil War from the perspective of a black slave, Jane Pittman. She fights hard for her freedom, taking risks and putting her life on the line. At first, when reading the novel, I didn't understand why freedom was so valuable to the slaves. It doesn't seem like a big deal now because I'm so used to it. However, but the end of the novel, I knew exactly why. Those people had nothing. They couldn't be anyone but who their masters decided they were, they weren't seen as equal, and they didn't have any privileges or responsibilities. Gaining insight to how important this was for them made me appreciate my freedom much more.

Thinking Twice

In my English class this semester, we're reading the novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. This book is about a freed slave girl's struggle after the Civil War ended. It describes her journey, and although it was not actually written by the girl, the author puts you in her shoes extremely well. The book conveys many stereotypes associated with the black community during the Civil War period. Some examples are that they were stupid, slow, lazy, and vengeful. In The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Jane, the main character, disproves many of these stereotypes. She is cunning; she avoids the Secesh, the southern army, many times. She never gives up, even when she's physically exhausted. She is also the exact opposite of lazy. She basically mothers a young boy, Ned, and helps him make the journey to freedom. Together, they walk miles and miles daily. She respects whites when they earn her respect. She is feisty, but knows her limits. Jane is a perfect example of someone who makes people think twice about their quick judgement.

Criminal Minds

My favorite show for a number of reasons is Criminal Minds. It's about an elite team of agents in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. They solve crimes by trying to think like the offender. It's high action, thought provoking, and leaves you wanting to watch another 'case.' Every episode is brand new; all the cases are unique. This show keeps you guessing; it's interesting and exciting, and is also very educational. All the characters are amazing, the script is great, and every 'case' the profilers must solve is challenging, Criminal Minds is definitely not for squeamish people. It's full of blood and action, and it certainly leaves you locking your doors at night. If you like that kind of thing, I really encourage that you watch this show.

My Friends are Everything

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I've really been thinking about what I'm most thankful for. The answer is simple: my friends. My friends mean the world to me and have brought me through times I couldn't get through on my own. I have made so many new friends this year; it's amazing to me. The strongest bonds I've ever had with a person were made in such short time that I don't know how we did it. God has blessed me with the best family of friends I could ever hope to have, and I know they'll always be there for me and love me no matter what I get into. This year has been amazing so far, and it's my friends that made it that way. They're helping me through the hardest time of my life, and I can never thank them enough. I'm so grateful God has put these people in my life. I love every single one of them more than I can ever hope to express.

Finally! An Idea!

I finally have an idea of what I want to do as a career. Today was career day at my school, and we had guest speakers from many professions to come and talk to us about the jobs they have. The sessions I attended were social work/psychotherapy, performing arts, ER medicine, and music. The session I enjoyed most was the social work/psychotherapy. The speaker was very smart and interesting, and that's the career I'm most interested in. She talked about working in mental facilities and how her patients were the funniest and most interesting people she's ever met. I had never heard that point of view on mental patients before, and it struck me today that this is a career I would really enjoy. She had such a passion and love for the mentally ill that it has really inspired me to get involved in this career choice.

Portia's Monologue: My English Project

My English class just finished the reading play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. It is the story of Roman men who decide to kill their new king because they think his power will go his head and he will destroy Rome. We had to do a project at the end of the unit, and I chose to perform a monologue spoken by the protagonist's wife, Portia. In the monologue, she is begging her husband, Brutus, to tell her why he's been so anxious lately. She doesn't know it's because he's about to betray his best friend, Caesar. It's a very powerful monologue, and even though I did not perform it well in class at all, it is very moving onstage.

You have ungently, Brutus,
stole from my bed, and yesternight at supper
you suddenly arose and walked about
musing and sighing with arms across
and when I asked you what the matter was
you stared upon me with ungentle looks
I urged you further, then you scratched your head
and too impatiently stamped with your foot
yet I insisted, yet you answered not
but with an angry wafture of your hand
gave sign for me to leave you so I did
fearing to strenghten that impatience
which seemed much too enkindled and withal
hoping it was an effect of humor
which sometimes hath his hour with every man
It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep
and could it work so much upon your shape
as it hath prevailed in your condition.
I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
make me acquainted with your cause of greif.

God's Refining Fire in our Lives

This week was Spiritual Emphasis week at my school. We had an excellent speaker, who made us realize that talking about spirituality didn't have to be boring. He was the most hilarious guy any of us have ever heard speak, and he used some amazing analogies to make sure we got the picture. The comparison he used that stuck out to me the most is that of God's Refining Fire and a silversmith. He said that our sin is like the imperfections that come to the surface when gold or silver is put in a fire. He said that God wants to do this to us. He puts bad things in our lives so the bad things in us will come out and he can "scrape them off." Once we've dealt with a hardship in our lives, we don't have to deal with it again. God wants to make us pure of imperfections- more like Him.

Hunters Hunting in Life?

In the short story "The Most Dangerous Game," which my English class just read, the main character, Rainsford, makes an interesting statement that there are hunters and huntees in real life.  I think this is somewhat true. I think there are leaders and followers in real life, and the followers make themselves vulnerable to the leaders. However, the leaders aren't always out to get the followers. There are some situations of hunting other humans in ways like terrorist attacks and serial killers, however. These aren't as common as the typical animal relationships, and they are harder to recognize. Humans definitely hunt animals, but humans don't typically hunt each other.

My Spiritual and Social Goals for Freshman Year

I've never been a really spiritual person. Jesus is my Lord and Savior, but I'm not a go-to-church-and-sing-about-it kind of person. A lot of people think I'm not a Christian just because I don't talk about it, but I most definitely am. I want to set some goals this year so people don't have to TALK to me about it to know I love God, they'll know just by the way I act. My spiritual goals include trying to be more Christ-like and, I know it sounds cheesy, but trying to think "would Jesus say this?" before I open my mouth. I've said a lot of things that I didn't mean to come out the way they did, and really hurt some people without even knowing it, so this is something I really need to work on. I know I'll fail at this sometimes, but I'll do what I need to do to make it right, then keep trying. My main goal this year is to NOT worry about what people think of me. I'm friends with so many amazing people, and I love them all. They don't care how I look or dress. All they care about is my personality, and they have showed me that it's not what's on the outside, it's SO much more important to let the inside come out and be who you truly are. If people don't like you for THAT, it's not worth it to try to win their approval by acting, dressing, or looking a certain way. I've been doing that for so long, I'm just over it. It's too big a hassle to try and get rid of all my flaws because we all know I have a lot. This picture is a collage of the words in this paragraph. It's the words that stand out to me and make me think about how I can keep to my goals and keeps me motivated to stick to them. 

How A Book's Theme Can Change Us

This picture represents a theme from the novel The Giver, a required summer reading book.The book is about a boy named Jonas who takes on a huge challenge and has to overcome many things.  He has to make the decision of letting his brother die, or risking his own life to save the baby. He chooses to help the boy, so a pretty dominant theme is "Be willing to risk yourself for those you love." This picture is a perfect example of this theme because a man is holding a little girl, probably his daughter, out of the water during a flood. The water is probably very dangerous, with broken glass, nails, animals, and many other things lurking underneath it. He is willing to get hurt so his little girl won't get wet, and should a problem like this come up, we should be willing to sacrifice ourselves for others. Books can help you realize simple changes you can make to really help others.