Sunday, February 1, 2009
Friday, November 7, 2008
From Ethan Brewer- Write a list of 25 (or just 5!) things you want to do in your life
Write a list of 25 (or just 5!) things you want to do in your life.
1. Be a good father.2. Eat at least 10 different kinds of exotic animal (I've got alligator under my belt at the moment).3. Accept the reality I'm presented.4. Gain faith in humanity.5. Laugh as often as possible.6. Drive at least 140 MPH.7. Sing for a heavy metal band.8. Meet Dez Fafara.9. Have a joke published.10. Throw a real hand grenade. 11. Sky Dive12. Die Happy.13. Continue philosophizing.14. Continue lacking materialistic ideals.15. Insult Tom Cruise and Lisa Lampanelli in person.16. Major in Psychology.17. Abuse the system.18. See my brother play in a professional baseball game.19. Become an authority on something.20. Give a child a second chance at life.21. Live in North Carolina.22. Never serve jury duty.23. Visit old friends regularly.24. Keep in contact with old friends.25. Leave behind a legacy.
1. Be a good father.2. Eat at least 10 different kinds of exotic animal (I've got alligator under my belt at the moment).3. Accept the reality I'm presented.4. Gain faith in humanity.5. Laugh as often as possible.6. Drive at least 140 MPH.7. Sing for a heavy metal band.8. Meet Dez Fafara.9. Have a joke published.10. Throw a real hand grenade. 11. Sky Dive12. Die Happy.13. Continue philosophizing.14. Continue lacking materialistic ideals.15. Insult Tom Cruise and Lisa Lampanelli in person.16. Major in Psychology.17. Abuse the system.18. See my brother play in a professional baseball game.19. Become an authority on something.20. Give a child a second chance at life.21. Live in North Carolina.22. Never serve jury duty.23. Visit old friends regularly.24. Keep in contact with old friends.25. Leave behind a legacy.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Memoirs in Class
Students were asked to write memoirs for Literary Expressions. Here are some of their amazing work:
The Day I Got Saved
The Day I Got Saved! by Meagan Thompson
I go to Immanuel Baptist Church. My great grandfather, who is a preacher, started the church back in 1947. I am the fourth generation to go there. I got saved in the Pastors study on May 27, 2007 at 7:35 pm. Accepting God as my savior was a great day!!! I am raised in a very religious family, so when I called all my friends and family to tell them the news they were delighted to hear it!!! This really touched my great grandfather, Bill.
Like I said, he is a preacher, and this made him so overjoyed to hear this news. When I went to the altar to pray with my preacher I was so nervous being in front of the church but it was great. I was nervous walking down the isle but when I got up there it was not so bad. Leaving church that Sunday night, I felt like a new person! Being a Christian is not always easy though. I found that out. When people say something mean to you, you want to come back at them with something. Being a saved, born again Christian, I try to do what Jesus would want me to. Ephesians chapter four verse thirty-two says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ forgave you.” God will guide you on your journey through life, but He never said being a Christian would be an easy road. I am glad I have a God that loves me, and died on a cross, and suffered greater pain than you can imagine, so I could spend eternal life with him in Heaven, where there is no suffering or pain. The joy of having God in your life is amazing. When I have a problem I pray about it. God says give all of your cares to Him and he will take care of it. Instead of you doing it your way, which is not always the best way of handling things, let God handle it so it can be solved in a Christian way.
I go to Immanuel Baptist Church. My great grandfather, who is a preacher, started the church back in 1947. I am the fourth generation to go there. I got saved in the Pastors study on May 27, 2007 at 7:35 pm. Accepting God as my savior was a great day!!! I am raised in a very religious family, so when I called all my friends and family to tell them the news they were delighted to hear it!!! This really touched my great grandfather, Bill.
Like I said, he is a preacher, and this made him so overjoyed to hear this news. When I went to the altar to pray with my preacher I was so nervous being in front of the church but it was great. I was nervous walking down the isle but when I got up there it was not so bad. Leaving church that Sunday night, I felt like a new person! Being a Christian is not always easy though. I found that out. When people say something mean to you, you want to come back at them with something. Being a saved, born again Christian, I try to do what Jesus would want me to. Ephesians chapter four verse thirty-two says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ forgave you.” God will guide you on your journey through life, but He never said being a Christian would be an easy road. I am glad I have a God that loves me, and died on a cross, and suffered greater pain than you can imagine, so I could spend eternal life with him in Heaven, where there is no suffering or pain. The joy of having God in your life is amazing. When I have a problem I pray about it. God says give all of your cares to Him and he will take care of it. Instead of you doing it your way, which is not always the best way of handling things, let God handle it so it can be solved in a Christian way.
A Dramatic Experience
A Dramatic Experience by Illa Jones
I was sitting in forth period English class with one of my closest friends, Bethany, working on a project, when my teacher walked to the middle of the classroom.
She opened her mouth and said, "There will be a state drama competition this year held in Winston-Salem. If you win first-place you will receive a prize of 200 dollars. If you win second place, you will receive 175 dollars, and if you win third place, you will receive 100 dollars. If you are interested talk to me, and I will give a pamphlet. Also, if you are serious about winning, you could stay after school and I could coach you. I think that it would really be worth it."
As soon as I heard this only one person came to my mind: Bethany. Bethany was born actress. She had been in every church play from the age of six. She even had her life planned out to where she was going to live in New York City and become an aspiring actress.
I looked at her wondering why she hadn’t run to Ms. Wensyel and grabbed the pamphlet out of her hand.
She turned to me smiling and said, "What?"
I replied, "What do you mean what?! Are you not going to do it? You would defiantly win first place!"
She said, "I don’t know." I thought that she was crazy for not wanting to do it. I thought about it and she might have not wanted to do it because she was afraid to do it on her own. I thought that maybe if I did it with her that she would compete. I had no intentions of winning, but I just wanted to be a good friend.
"If I do it with you will do it? Because you could you could so win the 200 dollars!" I told her.
She said that she would do it if I did it. She went up and got the pamphlets for us to look over. They said that it was a girls-only competition, and that each contestant was to recite a dramatic monologue and a comedic monologue. There were a list of websites and books with monologues in them. Our teacher came to us and asked us if we were interested. We told her that we were. She asked us if we wanted her to help us. We told her that we would first have to ask our parents and that we would get back to her.
I came back to school the next day and asked her if her parents said that she could do it. She said that they told her that she could. We waited until fourth period to tell our English teacher the good news. When we told her she was very excited. She told us that she could stay after school any day but Thursday until five o’clock.
Ms. Wensyel was about twenty-four years old, and had a lot of energy. She was the cheerleading coach. She looked like the type of girl who was the home-coming queen and had won every role she had ever tried out for. I was a little nervous about being judged and coached by her.
I went home that night and looked at the suggested websites, and picked a few monologues that I liked for myself. I also printed out some monologues for Bethany, because she didn’t have access to the internet. We told our teacher about it the next day, but she didn’t like the ones that we picked out. She went out and bought two books with monologues in them and had already picked out the "winning" monologues. She had us each take home a book and practice. She also wanted us to find out when we could practice with her.
I went home and looked through my book and found the ones that she had picked out. One was a mother with a teenage daughter who wanted to go to a school meeting with a mini-skirt and a tongue ring. The other was about a girl telling her father that she was tired of him blaming her for her mother’s leaving him. I thought that they were good. The only thing I was worried about was the fact that I had never acted before. I was seriously having second doubts.
The next day I told Ms. Wensyel that Bethany and I could stay after that next Wednesday. Bethany soon found out that she was to babysit someone the same time as the competition. Although it wasn’t the same time, she was still worried. I told her not to give up, and that she could win this thing.
There were twenty days until the competition and we hadn’t had a single practice! Bethany and I walked into Ms. Wensyel’s classroom, which for some reason seemed larger than normal, hoping for the best. Our teacher had a huge smile on her face, and we knew she was excited.
"Uh-oh!" Bethany said under her breath.
I looked at her and asked, "What’s wrong?"
She replied, "I can’t find my monologues!" She frantically searched through her bag. Ms. WEnsyel told her that she could go look for it while I preformed my monologue for her. Lick a switch went off in my mind, I was instantly nervous. I was about to be critiqued on something that I new I would fail at.
I stepped to the front of the empty classroom. I looked at the classroom in the perspective of the teacher. I saw the "beautifully artistic" posters our class had made. I looked at the dull, boring manilla walls. I saw all the empty desks and realized that the teacher can see everything and everyone. I thought about the time that my cell phone beeped in class. I had sneakily hid the phone under the desk and turned the sound off. I thought that I was so smooth, but I guess there was a big probability that the teacher saw me.
I stepped out of my wondering mind and held to paper with my monologue on it in front of me. For some reason, it seemed much longer than normal. I took a deep breath and got ready for the embarrassment to start. I knew that as soon as I said my first work I was committed to this. There was still time to walk out. I still had that chance, that freedom.
A Plea for Help
A Plea for Help- Anon.
It was the day of my 18th birthday. I had actually succeeded in making it all 18 years, I was surprised. The day before I had called Mouth’s mother, who is a registered nurse, to ask her if I could place her in my phone as an “in case of emergency” contact. She said that would be fine. I mentioned that my birthday was the next day and she was very excited in hearing this.
“We haven’t seen you in so long honey! When you gonna come visit us?” she said.
“Expect to see me tomorrow.” I replied.
Then the next day arrived at Mouth’s house to ask him if he would be coming to my party that night at BooblyD’s house. When I pulled up I could see that Mouth was not at home or in the Funky Hut (his garage/building he had converted to a living space). So I walked inside to speak to his parents, they were pretty much my parents away from home. As I poked my head in the door Mouth’s mother told me “Watch out for Mouth’s Father. He’s pissed off at everybody and in a bad mood.” This was not uncommon. Mouth’s Dad was a functioning alcoholic. He never got angry, violent, or even yelled at his family when he was drunk. So we sat around for a while, shot the shit, and got caught up for a while. Soon I felt it was time for me to go. I had to buy cigars and see my father, then be at BooblyD’s house by 6. I hugged Mouth’s Mom and told her I missed her. As I did this I noticed Mouth’s Dad was walking out the door. I figured he was going out to tend to his grilling, since he was so well known for being a good cook. As I walked outside and started making my way towards my car I extended my hand to Mouth’s Dad. He did not shake it. Instead, he said to me in a quiet voice, “I need your help.”
“What?”, I said.
“I need your help.”
“What’s wrong, dude?” I asked.
“I’m scared.” I could tell something was wrong. Mouth’s Dad was a big guy. He was an ex-military police officer, was a large man, and had witnessed the death of several men.
“What are you scared of?” I asked
“I’m scared for my son.”
“Why are you scared for him?”
“He’s just going the wrong way. He hangs out out there in the Funky Hut all the time and does drugs. He’s hanging out with the wrong people. He’s acting like a fucking idiot. I am scared for him.” At this point, Mouth’s Dad started crying. A man I had thought was not capable of Human emotion now started crying. I held my arms open to hug him. I hugged him and he cried on my shoulder. A man I have never seen a legitimate emotion from now cried on my shoulder. Ex-military police, and now crying on my shoulder.
“[Mouth’s Dad] I promise you, I will do everything I can to get your son back. I’ve seen all the shit he’s doing to himself. I’ve asked him to stop. But I promise you I will get your son back.”
“Thank you.” He said through tears in a whisper, “thank you.”
It was the day of my 18th birthday. I had actually succeeded in making it all 18 years, I was surprised. The day before I had called Mouth’s mother, who is a registered nurse, to ask her if I could place her in my phone as an “in case of emergency” contact. She said that would be fine. I mentioned that my birthday was the next day and she was very excited in hearing this.
“We haven’t seen you in so long honey! When you gonna come visit us?” she said.
“Expect to see me tomorrow.” I replied.
Then the next day arrived at Mouth’s house to ask him if he would be coming to my party that night at BooblyD’s house. When I pulled up I could see that Mouth was not at home or in the Funky Hut (his garage/building he had converted to a living space). So I walked inside to speak to his parents, they were pretty much my parents away from home. As I poked my head in the door Mouth’s mother told me “Watch out for Mouth’s Father. He’s pissed off at everybody and in a bad mood.” This was not uncommon. Mouth’s Dad was a functioning alcoholic. He never got angry, violent, or even yelled at his family when he was drunk. So we sat around for a while, shot the shit, and got caught up for a while. Soon I felt it was time for me to go. I had to buy cigars and see my father, then be at BooblyD’s house by 6. I hugged Mouth’s Mom and told her I missed her. As I did this I noticed Mouth’s Dad was walking out the door. I figured he was going out to tend to his grilling, since he was so well known for being a good cook. As I walked outside and started making my way towards my car I extended my hand to Mouth’s Dad. He did not shake it. Instead, he said to me in a quiet voice, “I need your help.”
“What?”, I said.
“I need your help.”
“What’s wrong, dude?” I asked.
“I’m scared.” I could tell something was wrong. Mouth’s Dad was a big guy. He was an ex-military police officer, was a large man, and had witnessed the death of several men.
“What are you scared of?” I asked
“I’m scared for my son.”
“Why are you scared for him?”
“He’s just going the wrong way. He hangs out out there in the Funky Hut all the time and does drugs. He’s hanging out with the wrong people. He’s acting like a fucking idiot. I am scared for him.” At this point, Mouth’s Dad started crying. A man I had thought was not capable of Human emotion now started crying. I held my arms open to hug him. I hugged him and he cried on my shoulder. A man I have never seen a legitimate emotion from now cried on my shoulder. Ex-military police, and now crying on my shoulder.
“[Mouth’s Dad] I promise you, I will do everything I can to get your son back. I’ve seen all the shit he’s doing to himself. I’ve asked him to stop. But I promise you I will get your son back.”
“Thank you.” He said through tears in a whisper, “thank you.”
King of the Desk
King of the Desk by Henry Hutton
One day in the first grade, our usual teacher, Mrs. Black, was out and we had a substitute named Mrs. Hiatt. When Mrs. Hiatt left to go to the office, some of the boys started standing on their desks and messing with the stuff elementary school teachers hang from the ceiling. After about four boys had stood in the seat of their chair I decided it was my turn. Right in the middle of my shift entertaining the class, Mrs. Hiatt walked in and I knew I was toast. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hiatt was not a wimpy sub who just told me to sit down and not to do it again and then sighed deeply. I was punished and my parents were informed of my misconduct. My parents did not take it lightly either. I sure as heck learned my lesson and my performing career went into hiding until middle school.
My mom tried to look on the bright side and came up with the fact it was a substitute and I might only have her once or twice if any times the rest of my life. But the bright side got a little darker when Mrs. Hiatt became the official kindergarten teacher next year. My mom’s bright side perspective reared its head again and produced that I was past that grade and would not have her again despite the fact I would see her every day for years to come. My mom still gets embarrassed when I bring it up.
One day in the first grade, our usual teacher, Mrs. Black, was out and we had a substitute named Mrs. Hiatt. When Mrs. Hiatt left to go to the office, some of the boys started standing on their desks and messing with the stuff elementary school teachers hang from the ceiling. After about four boys had stood in the seat of their chair I decided it was my turn. Right in the middle of my shift entertaining the class, Mrs. Hiatt walked in and I knew I was toast. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hiatt was not a wimpy sub who just told me to sit down and not to do it again and then sighed deeply. I was punished and my parents were informed of my misconduct. My parents did not take it lightly either. I sure as heck learned my lesson and my performing career went into hiding until middle school.
My mom tried to look on the bright side and came up with the fact it was a substitute and I might only have her once or twice if any times the rest of my life. But the bright side got a little darker when Mrs. Hiatt became the official kindergarten teacher next year. My mom’s bright side perspective reared its head again and produced that I was past that grade and would not have her again despite the fact I would see her every day for years to come. My mom still gets embarrassed when I bring it up.
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