Essays
Fear Takes the Wheel
by Serenna Abrey
As children we are exposed to a world unfamiliar to us, we grow up curious, with a drive to see, touch, smell and taste everything around us. In these early stages of life, parents follow along behind, guiding with words and examples in order to keep their kids safe. There's only so much parents can shelter their children from, but the experiences we go through is how children develop into young adults whether they are traumatizing, sad, scary or simply new experiences. We learn from them. Children and young adults are destined to be hit by some experience that goes wrong and leaves them forced to handle the situation as best they can. How can you prepare for something you wouldn't expect? When we are used to practicing something vigorously in order to be prepared for when we need those skills, someone wants to be good at basketball so they go to the gym take hundreds of shots until they make every single one, but when they go into the game and another player is in front of them it messes up the exact shot they practiced so maybe they fail that first time. Any experience is like that, it has the potential to give you strength or teach you a weakness you weren't aware of until that moment. That is how we develop fear usually from encounters that we don´t understand, can't control, and/or has the potential to harm to us. We are not born with the fears we hold today, we carry some instincts for protection but mostly they come later when we experience something that allows us to correspond a situation with a fear.
Fear has occurred since the beginning of the human race when everyday was a fight to survive. “Fear is adaptive because it protects us. More importantly, it protected our ancestors. Our distant ancestors who were afraid of heights didn’t fall off cliffs, those that feared wild animals didn’t get eaten by a tiger, those that ran the fastest left the rest behind and they survived.” Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be fearless? “Well, an American woman, only known as SM, is one of the few people in the world who lives without fear. She has a rare genetic condition called Urback-Wiethe disease, which causes parts of her brain to harden and waste away, including the parts that generate fear. She will walk down a dark alleyway without a second thought. She will handle poisonous snakes and spiders (although she doesn’t like them). She has been held at knife-point without breaking a sweat. SM says she understands the concept of fear, she just doesn’t feel it personally.”
In this date in time we don't have nearly as many things to worry about, an animal attacking us, not finding water, freezing to death at night. Many of our common fears are more along the lines of public speaking, snakes, getting your blood drawn, and many more. Common fears often occur from believing something will happen and result poorly whether it's likely it will or not, much different than conditioned fears.
Conditioned fears are where we fear things because we are taught to do so. People are conditioned to fear things they are told are negative. Which is why as children we have far less fears then we are older. When we were young and more sheltered there were less opinions and exposure to others beliefs and phobias that could enhance our personal response to those fears.“Many phobias begin after a person has had a negative experience with the fear object. For example, after witnessing a terrible car accident, a person might develop a fear of driving. This fear is a conditioned response. Another example is kids fear of shots or needles, “many children receive regular immunizations, and a child may cry as a result of these injections. In some instances, a child might come to associate a doctor's white jacket with this painful experience. Eventually, the child might begin to cry whenever he or she sees anyone wearing a white coat. This crying behavior is a conditioned response.” Conditioned fears goes into how individuals learn to be biased, the things you see being done around you at a young age you mimic and find comfort in your parents beliefs or the people surrounding you. “This plays a role in how families and communities become prejudiced against different groups of people. Instinctively, we’re not afraid of people who have different beliefs than we do. But, if you’re raised to believe that a different group of people is morally wrong or dangerous, you’re likely going to fear those people even though you’ve never interacted with them.¨ This type of fear is less debilitating in most cases then fears from experiences but it is sad how young minds can be manipulated into believing wrong aspects of our humanity.
One of the toughest types of fears to live with is fears from personally experiencing traumatizing experiences because it’s not as easy to downplay or reassure something that has already happened. “Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. There’s many examples of these causes: one-time events, such as an accident, injury, or a violent attack, especially if it was unexpected or happened in childhood. ongoing, relentless stress, such as living in a crime-ridden neighborhood, battling a life-threatening illness or experiencing traumatic events that occur repeatedly, such as bullying, domestic violence, or childhood neglect. Commonly overlooked causes, such as surgery, the sudden death of someone close, the breakup of a significant relationship, or a humiliating or deeply disappointing experience, especially if someone was deliberately cruel.” (Psychology Today) “Experiencing trauma in childhood can result in a severe and long-lasting effect. When childhood trauma is not resolved, a sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, setting the stage for further trauma. However, even if your trauma happened many years ago, there are steps you can take to overcome the pain, learn to trust and connect to others again, and regain your sense of emotional balance.” While there are so many different levels of fears the science behind it and what’s physically going on in your brain remains similar. “Fear comes from the brain. When people encounter something that frightens them, the hypothalamus in the brain reacts by releasing a series of chemicals to the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. In the sympathetic nervous system, signals are sent out to release ‘stress hormones’, like adrenaline. These kick the body into high gear, so it becomes tense and alert. At the same time, the adrenal-cortical system is also secreting hormones to other parts of the body, which instigates a series of remarkable changes to occur, almost instantaneously. Heart rate and blood pressure increase, pupils dilate to take in as much light as possible, nonessential systems such as the immune system and digestion turn themselves off to allow more energy go towards emergency function, and veins in the skin constrict which keeps blood in the major muscle groups. It will become difficult to focus on small tasks since your brain is preoccupied with the fear.” This can happen in large scale that makes you stop anything or mild like observing something you are unsure whether to fear or not.
There’s far more to fear then we think about on a daily basis, why does someone fear? Is it comes from the experiences they’ve been through or there eagerness to stay alive? But disregarding that aspect there's an emotional response that occurs in each of our bodies telling us to be scared or attempts to calm you down. We all have fears, we were born with similar ones passed down from our ancestors in hopes of our survival and we’ve developed many on the way. No matter how terrifying some experiences can be, we are far stronger than anything being thrown at us and we are capable of utilizing our resources and cooling mechanisms to overcome fear.
Cultural Essay: Indonesia
by Zane Taylor
Geography
Indonesia is a country made up of islands. There are a total of 13,667 to 18,000 estimated islands. The vast majority of islands spreads out 5,120 kilometers east to west and 1,760 kilometers north to south. The total territory of Indonesia, including the ocean is about 5 million square kilometers. The main islands of Indonesia are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. These are the Greater Sunda islands and lie on the Sunda shelf. To the far east, west of New Guinea lies Irian Jaya, on the Sahul shelf. In between the shelfs lie the islands of Sulawesi, Nusa, Tenggara, and the Maluku Islands. Irian Jaya included New Guinea and is shared by Papua New Guinea. Indonesia also shared former Borneo, Kalimantan with Malaysia, and Brunei. Since Indonesia is between the Eurasian and Australian plates it makes natural disasters very common. For example the island of Java is tectonically unstable. In 2004 there was a 9.2 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the islands. The tectonic activity also causes tall mountains some 3,000 to 3,800 meters above sea level. These can be found on Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Seram. The tallest mountain in Indonesia are the Jayawijaya mountains and Sudirman mountains in Irian Jaya, 4,700-5,000 meters tall. Besides mountains, Indonesia is covered in lush rain forests and coastal plains. Several rivers such as the Barito, Digul, Hari, Kampar, Kapuas, Kayan, and Musi dot the landscape. In Irian Jaya, New Guinea has snow capped peaks with humid valleys. Some believe that New Guinea once was a piece of Australia before the continental drift.There are about 400 volcanoes in the Indonesian border, 90 active. From volcanic ash the soil is rich and fertile. The tallest mountain in Indonesia used to be Mount Tambora but it erupted in 1815 and killed 71,000 people. Ash from the explosion was recorded in Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, and Maluku. Between 1982 and 1991 29 eruptions were recorded, mostly located in Java.
Climate and Environment
Eighty percent of Indonesia was forests in 1960. Now researchers estimate that about 2.4 million of acres a year are clear cut for pulp, paper, plywood, and palm oil industries. Currently under half of all the forests in Indonesia remain. 70% of the forests clear cut are on mineral soils and 30% on peat-land. Indonesia is a highly diverse ecosystem with about 3,000 different animal species. Many animals are extinct or are threatened. An example is the Javan Tiger, which is now extinct and orangutans which are extremely threatened. As more and more land is converted to industry many of the animal species lose their habitats and die. Deforestation does not only affect the natural environment. It is estimated that the forests provide 75% of GDP of poor, rural Indonesians who live off the land. Rain forests are also sources of income fromecotourism. Forests provide capital that will make more money over time than deforestation. The destruction of rain forests in Indonesia is also a global crisis. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Roughly 85% of these emissions are from deforestation. When rain forest and peat-land is destroyed, it releases carbon into the environment. Even with government protection, the forests are not safe from illegal lumber industries. The Indonesian government and industry also plans in the future to convert rain forests to palm oil and pulp plants.
History and Religion
Historians believe that the first Indonesians crossed across land bridges about 1.7 million years ago based on remains of Homo erectus found in Java. About 6,000 years ago, climate change and rising sea levels caused these bridges to become submerged. By the early common era Indonesia traded timber, spices, and resin to Asian countries. Roman histories even suggest that Indonesian outriggers had contact with the eastern coast of Africa. Regular exchanges between China and Indonesia didn’t begin before the 5th century. Localization was more important to the Indonesian people then foreign expansion. Most towns and cities emerged around estuaries and inland seas where they were sustained on seafood. Coastal communities learned to benefit from foreign trade and when available traded goods. Early Indonesian society formed hierarchy with ranks and symbols. Many of the names of places in Indonesian are unchanged since documentation. No groups were large enough to take over land, forming many small communities. The many Austronesian languages on the archipelago shows the complexity and number of tribes which have formed the modern Indonesian culture. One of the major Indonesian religions, especially in Bali, is Hinduism. It was brought from India to Indonesia by Brahmans teaching shaivism and personal immortality. Sanskrit inscriptions from the 5th and 6th century were found in eastern Kalimantan and western Java. The revealed that Indian priests and their Indonesian disciples were honored in some royal courts. The Raka, heads of villages, worshiped Shiva to aid them in war, grant them Shiva’s grace, and maintain a favorable position in the after life. The Rakas’ influence also led to the spread of Hinduism. The main religion in Indonesia Islam. It made a come back about two decades ago with the change to democracy. Before it seeded itself into Indonesian culture in 1945, after they gained independence from the Dutch. Before democracy many educated in Indonesia turned their back on religion. Now people are finding a balance between being openly religious and educated. The image of Islam as a religion is widely affected by the western image. Some people believe that the Islam party will dominate elections. However roughly out of the forty Islamic parties only a couple gain a seat in the house. People in Indonesia vote for the parties which will help the Indonesian people not based off of their religion or beliefs. Many of the Islamic party’s beliefs are anti-corruption, welfare, and liberalizing the economy. Indonesian Islam is more relaxed than in the Middle East. An example is that full berkas are very uncommon. Most women where a head shawl and clothing that covers the shoulders and butt.
Economy and Government
The main philosophy of Indonesian democracy is called Pancasila. This includes the belief in one god, just and civilized humanism, unity of Indonesia, democratic citizenship lead by wide guidance born of representative consultation, and social justice for all Indonesians. Indonesia is broken into thirty three provinces. The executive branch is centralized under the president, vice president, and cabinet of ministers. The legislative authority includes the the People’s Consultative Assembly which is composed of two bodies. The parliament and regional representative council. Each province votes in four delegates which act in this council. The Indonesian Government has been trying to improve the business environment. They are upgrading power and infrastructure to increase capital GDP. Some constraints against economic growth are an inflexible labor market, long standing protectionist laws, and subsidies to state owned enterprises. In 1998, when the Authoritarian ruler, General Suharto stepped down, 262 million citizens enjoyed political and religious freedoms. Indonesia has a high participation in political process. Some exports from Indonesia are mineral fuels, animal/vegetable fats, electrical machinery, rubber, and mechanical appliance parts. The current Indonesian president is Joko Widodo. The vice president is Jusuf Kalla.
Education System
In Indonesian schools the government requires students to wear uniforms. All uniforms for every school is very similar. In elementary school, students wear either red shorts or skirts with white t-shirts. In junior high they wear the same outfit but it is colored blue. In high school they wear grey and boys are required to wear trousers. Not wearing the uniform is a serious punishment however it is allowed for muslim girls to wear long sleeves, ankle high dresses, and scarfs. Every Monday Indonesian schools have a flag salute. They form lines where a few are chosen to raise the flag while the rest sing the national anthem and recite the constitution. At school the teachers are addressed as Pak, sir or Bu, mrs. The school week lasts from Monday to Friday and used to go till Saturday. School starts around 7 AM and ends around 3PM although some schools are different. Students take up to fifteen subjects per semester. Extracurricular activities happen after school and run up to 5 PM. The school year starts around July and ends early June. Students have holiday breaks as well as breaks between semesters and midterms.
Cuisine
Lots of food in Indonesia is very spicy. As Ardie, our district’s Indonesian exchange student said, “The best food in Indonesia is spicy.” One favorite in Indonesia is Nasi Goreng, fried rice. You can find this dish in restaurants or sold by a vendor. Unlike Chinese fried rice nasi goreng is made with sambals, special indonesian sauces, shrimp paste, and kecap manis. It has a smokey taste and is seasoned with galangal root, turmeric, and ginger. It is most popular in the Maylay Islands. Another classic indonesian dish is rendang. It originates from West Sumatra and is a caramelized beef stew with lots of spices. It can be described as a coconut curry meets a beef stew. Unlike most stews, rendang has no vegetables, pulling full attention the the beef or lamb used as the protein. Sambals are found in almost any Indonesian dishes. They are a variety of sauces made from the core Indonesian spices, turmeric, galangal root, shallots, garlic and chilies, balanced out by coconut milk, tamarin, or tomato sauce. Sambals are almost like the Indonesian versions of salsas except instead of being an add on, dishes revolve around them.
Health and Adolescents
Indonesia’s population from 2016 is 261,115,000 people. The life expectancy is about 70.8 years of age. 29% of the population is under 15 years old and only 5% are above 65. It is suggested that over one third of children under 5 have stunted growth. About 28 million people live below the poverty level and many just above it. Indonesia has an extreme amounts of smoking and about 400,000 die each year from smoking related illnesses. A major killer of young children is unsafe drinking water. In Indonesian cities they have huge air conditioned malls which teenagers go to hang out and escape the heat. Teenagers also do outdoor recreation such as going to the beach or on hikes. Some girls who are devout Muslims wear Hijab or head scarfs. Some teenagers are influenced by western fashions while others, influenced by Korea. About 28% of Indonesia's population is between ten to twenty four years old. Literacy rates are high, more than 99%. About one in for girls are married before age 18. There is little education about reproductive health so there are high rates of STD’s and unwanted pregnancies. However the Indonesian youth is a growing population which has been growing in power. They bring new, liberal ideas to Indonesia. Drinking age is 17 and smoking cigarettes is very popular. Other drugs are frowned upon and if you are caught selling them could be killed by firing squad.
Sports
Indonesia has several popular sports. Pencak Silat is a Indonesian martial art which uses bladed and hand to hand techniques. Football (soccer) is probably the most popular sport. Indonesia was the first Asian country to qualify for the FIFA world cup in 1938. In the Olympics Indonesia is very good at badminton. They, along with China sweep up gold medals in this sport each year. Basketball is also popular. Indonesia is one of the bigger names in the Southeast Asia conference. Finally, lots of surfers are attracted to Indonesia for killer waves. Bali is very popular as well as the west side of Java.
Current Events
Indonesia had an election recently. The main candidates were the former president Joko Widodo running for a second five year term and an ex-general who was married to the former dictator’s daughter. Widodo’s main running points are expanding social programs and infrastructure. His opponent was nicknamed the “Trump of Indonesia”. He is a conservative Islamist who wanted the to expand the Islam on to Indonesian society. He was dismissed by the army because he kidnapped multiple activists while they were protesting against his father in law’s regime. Relations between the USA and Indonesia are strong. Indonesia is teh third largest democracy and 8th largest economy purchasing power. One of the first times the USA started Indonesian relations was in 1949 after Dutch independence. After Indonesia turned to democracy in 1998 both the USA and Indonesia have learned to benefit from one another. In 2010 both countries initiated a comprehensive partnership to further consistent engagement on democracy, civil society, education, security, climate, and etc.
Language
The main language in Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesian. Borrowing heavily from Javanese, Sudanese, Minangkabau, and some Dutch, Sanskrit, and Arabic. There are 726 different languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago. Many people speak Indonesian as well as a local language. In school, they encouraged to learn a local language. 80.42 percent of Indonesians speak Bahasa Indonesia, 32.28 percent Javanese, 16.08% Sundanese, and the other languages, less than five percent. Some Indonesian slang is that when texting someone. Instead of using LOL or hahaha they use wkwkwkwk. While I'm in Indonesia I’ll probably keep a little notebook with me so I can write down new Indonesian words that I want to use. Afterwards I can always practice from my notes and try to use the phrases while talking to my host family. During school I will probably have time to practice my Indonesian grammar and writing. The only person I know who speaks Indonesian is Ardie in Santa Rosa and my future host family!
Rotary
There are two Rotary districts in Indonesia, District 3410 which includes most of Java, Jakarta, and across Sumatra. District 3420, (where I’m going) includes far Eastern Indonesia, Bali, and Eastern Java. I am going to be the first exchange student to Indonesia from our district. The current Indonesian outbound to our district is Ardie. District 3420 donates and does events towards their community. These actions include providing social service dental care for Indonesian youth, providing food to the poor, spreading awareness of sexual harassment, helping to fight polio, provide clean drinking water, and other acts of service. My host parent is Abriadi Muhara, I will have two cousins, a girl and a boy. He works at the university near Makassar and his wife, my host mom lives in Surabaya. I will be living in the city of Sungguminasa which is near Makassar, a big city. The island is Sulawesi which is Eastern Indonesia.
Personal Food Traditions
by Zane Taylor
In my family my father cooks most of the food. If you ask my mom if she likes to cook she will answer a definite, “No!” She would rather be active or exercise, when she does cook, her specialties are soups. She makes curries, butternut squash soup, chilies, and stews. Every time she makes a soup it tastes different then the last time she made it. She never follows recipes, and for better or worse, adds her own twists and turns. Sometimes her squash soup has curry influences other times it is your classic squash soup with cheese. My family also eats a lot of salads. My mom has several beside a green salad which she likes to make. One is a bean, cilantro, and mango salad, another is a coleslaw, and my favorite, a tomato, basil, mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar salad. We try to use home grown vegetables in our salads.
My dad on the other hand has a vast repertoire of family favorite recipes. One of them being salmon. As a fisherman, my father loves to catch and cook fish. In the summer we eat fresh caught salmon and halibut. When he cooks fish, it is cooked to perfection. Juicy and tender, with a balance of seasoning, and no fishy aftertaste. My family always looks forward to any fish he prepares. My favorite is when he cooks thin fillets, soaks them in Soy Vay and lemon mixture, and sears them. My dad also smokes fish by hand. He has his own personal smoker which he keeps in the garage. His secret recipe includes brown sugar, garlic, and pepper. Unlike other people’s smoked fish, his is not too salty and not too fishy, always delicious, and a special treat. He also has friends who crab and sometimes brings back a dozen of crabs. He boils them and we line the table with newspaper and little cups of butter. My dad also makes crab stuffed mushrooms and crab cakes. My dad’s other food specialty are his stir fry. He got a wok when he went to college from his mom. It is one of his prized possessions and he cleans and oils it after every time he uses it. He cooks and sautes everything from meats to vegetables. When he cooks the whole house is filled with a tasty aroma.
I don’t really have any experiences of food from my culture. My dad is adopted and my mom is descended from Russian Jews. A recipe that my dad takes from his mom's thanksgiving dinner. My grandmother taught my dad how to stuff and dress a turkey. She also taught my sister her special recipe for mashed potatoes. We have pictures of my sister and my grandma cooking crab together. Another memory with food is that my grandma would always keep a jar of jelly beans at her house. When I was a little kid I called her the “Jelly Bean Grandma” and would always look forward to the little dish of jelly beans at their house. My family has made their our own culture in what we eat. This fall we had a Maya, a German exchange student come visit us. While she was here she cooked a German dinner for us. It included lemon roasted salmon and scalloped cheesy potatoes. The fish was cooked in its juices in the oven and the potatoes were cooked until they had a nice golden brown topping. Of course my mom made a salad with the meal. Our neighbor, my friend stopped by on that night. We shared the meal with him, my parents, Maya, and I. After dinner everybody was stuffed and satisfied. Like any good German meal, it was fatty, savory, and delicious.
In my backyard my parents have a large garden. With several berry bushes, fruit trees, and vegetables, most meals in summer are cooked using homegrown food. Sometimes I go out into our garden and feast myself on strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I remember days when I was younger, sitting in our netted blueberry enclosure, waiting the days away. Last summer I climbed up into our plum tree to help my mom pick the fruit too high for her to reach. We used one of my dads fishing nets and a rake to make a makeshift plum picker. In our garden we also grow green beans, one of my favorite foods when I was younger were green beans with tomato sauce. I also like eating them raw, picking and eating them straight from the plant. We also have an Asian pear tree and several apple trees. I like making pies from scratch using homegrown fruit. Making sure to add lots of cinnamon and sugar. My favorite plants in our garden are the strawberry bushes. Big, plump, juicy, strawberries, grown with care from my dad. His other specialty is garlic. In our garage he hangs cloves and cloves of garlic, waiting for them to dry. We also raise chickens and collect their eggs.
At home my parents have taught me to cook for myself. My dad taught me when I was a little kid to cook scrambled eggs. I would also cook grilled cheeses and quesadillas. I remember cooking grilled cheeses with my sister and burning cheese on purpose to eat a greasy, cheesy treat. Another dish I prepared as a little kid was fried rice. After my sister cooked it, I liked it so much that I wanted to replicate it. My recipes are always different, adding whatever is in the fridge. I have become a master at manipulating leftovers into other recipes. One time when we didn't have red sauce I used the blender, seasoning, and a can of tomatoes to make red sauce which tasted better than any store bought can. Something my parents taught me which I am grateful for is healthy eating habits. My family always has a salad for every meal. They have showed me the importance of growing and cooking their own food. I will take the lessons I learned from them and use it in my future.
by Serenna Abrey
As children we are exposed to a world unfamiliar to us, we grow up curious, with a drive to see, touch, smell and taste everything around us. In these early stages of life, parents follow along behind, guiding with words and examples in order to keep their kids safe. There's only so much parents can shelter their children from, but the experiences we go through is how children develop into young adults whether they are traumatizing, sad, scary or simply new experiences. We learn from them. Children and young adults are destined to be hit by some experience that goes wrong and leaves them forced to handle the situation as best they can. How can you prepare for something you wouldn't expect? When we are used to practicing something vigorously in order to be prepared for when we need those skills, someone wants to be good at basketball so they go to the gym take hundreds of shots until they make every single one, but when they go into the game and another player is in front of them it messes up the exact shot they practiced so maybe they fail that first time. Any experience is like that, it has the potential to give you strength or teach you a weakness you weren't aware of until that moment. That is how we develop fear usually from encounters that we don´t understand, can't control, and/or has the potential to harm to us. We are not born with the fears we hold today, we carry some instincts for protection but mostly they come later when we experience something that allows us to correspond a situation with a fear.
Fear has occurred since the beginning of the human race when everyday was a fight to survive. “Fear is adaptive because it protects us. More importantly, it protected our ancestors. Our distant ancestors who were afraid of heights didn’t fall off cliffs, those that feared wild animals didn’t get eaten by a tiger, those that ran the fastest left the rest behind and they survived.” Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be fearless? “Well, an American woman, only known as SM, is one of the few people in the world who lives without fear. She has a rare genetic condition called Urback-Wiethe disease, which causes parts of her brain to harden and waste away, including the parts that generate fear. She will walk down a dark alleyway without a second thought. She will handle poisonous snakes and spiders (although she doesn’t like them). She has been held at knife-point without breaking a sweat. SM says she understands the concept of fear, she just doesn’t feel it personally.”
In this date in time we don't have nearly as many things to worry about, an animal attacking us, not finding water, freezing to death at night. Many of our common fears are more along the lines of public speaking, snakes, getting your blood drawn, and many more. Common fears often occur from believing something will happen and result poorly whether it's likely it will or not, much different than conditioned fears.
Conditioned fears are where we fear things because we are taught to do so. People are conditioned to fear things they are told are negative. Which is why as children we have far less fears then we are older. When we were young and more sheltered there were less opinions and exposure to others beliefs and phobias that could enhance our personal response to those fears.“Many phobias begin after a person has had a negative experience with the fear object. For example, after witnessing a terrible car accident, a person might develop a fear of driving. This fear is a conditioned response. Another example is kids fear of shots or needles, “many children receive regular immunizations, and a child may cry as a result of these injections. In some instances, a child might come to associate a doctor's white jacket with this painful experience. Eventually, the child might begin to cry whenever he or she sees anyone wearing a white coat. This crying behavior is a conditioned response.” Conditioned fears goes into how individuals learn to be biased, the things you see being done around you at a young age you mimic and find comfort in your parents beliefs or the people surrounding you. “This plays a role in how families and communities become prejudiced against different groups of people. Instinctively, we’re not afraid of people who have different beliefs than we do. But, if you’re raised to believe that a different group of people is morally wrong or dangerous, you’re likely going to fear those people even though you’ve never interacted with them.¨ This type of fear is less debilitating in most cases then fears from experiences but it is sad how young minds can be manipulated into believing wrong aspects of our humanity.
One of the toughest types of fears to live with is fears from personally experiencing traumatizing experiences because it’s not as easy to downplay or reassure something that has already happened. “Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. There’s many examples of these causes: one-time events, such as an accident, injury, or a violent attack, especially if it was unexpected or happened in childhood. ongoing, relentless stress, such as living in a crime-ridden neighborhood, battling a life-threatening illness or experiencing traumatic events that occur repeatedly, such as bullying, domestic violence, or childhood neglect. Commonly overlooked causes, such as surgery, the sudden death of someone close, the breakup of a significant relationship, or a humiliating or deeply disappointing experience, especially if someone was deliberately cruel.” (Psychology Today) “Experiencing trauma in childhood can result in a severe and long-lasting effect. When childhood trauma is not resolved, a sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood, setting the stage for further trauma. However, even if your trauma happened many years ago, there are steps you can take to overcome the pain, learn to trust and connect to others again, and regain your sense of emotional balance.” While there are so many different levels of fears the science behind it and what’s physically going on in your brain remains similar. “Fear comes from the brain. When people encounter something that frightens them, the hypothalamus in the brain reacts by releasing a series of chemicals to the sympathetic nervous system and the adrenal-cortical system. In the sympathetic nervous system, signals are sent out to release ‘stress hormones’, like adrenaline. These kick the body into high gear, so it becomes tense and alert. At the same time, the adrenal-cortical system is also secreting hormones to other parts of the body, which instigates a series of remarkable changes to occur, almost instantaneously. Heart rate and blood pressure increase, pupils dilate to take in as much light as possible, nonessential systems such as the immune system and digestion turn themselves off to allow more energy go towards emergency function, and veins in the skin constrict which keeps blood in the major muscle groups. It will become difficult to focus on small tasks since your brain is preoccupied with the fear.” This can happen in large scale that makes you stop anything or mild like observing something you are unsure whether to fear or not.
There’s far more to fear then we think about on a daily basis, why does someone fear? Is it comes from the experiences they’ve been through or there eagerness to stay alive? But disregarding that aspect there's an emotional response that occurs in each of our bodies telling us to be scared or attempts to calm you down. We all have fears, we were born with similar ones passed down from our ancestors in hopes of our survival and we’ve developed many on the way. No matter how terrifying some experiences can be, we are far stronger than anything being thrown at us and we are capable of utilizing our resources and cooling mechanisms to overcome fear.
Cultural Essay: Indonesia
by Zane Taylor
Geography
Indonesia is a country made up of islands. There are a total of 13,667 to 18,000 estimated islands. The vast majority of islands spreads out 5,120 kilometers east to west and 1,760 kilometers north to south. The total territory of Indonesia, including the ocean is about 5 million square kilometers. The main islands of Indonesia are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. These are the Greater Sunda islands and lie on the Sunda shelf. To the far east, west of New Guinea lies Irian Jaya, on the Sahul shelf. In between the shelfs lie the islands of Sulawesi, Nusa, Tenggara, and the Maluku Islands. Irian Jaya included New Guinea and is shared by Papua New Guinea. Indonesia also shared former Borneo, Kalimantan with Malaysia, and Brunei. Since Indonesia is between the Eurasian and Australian plates it makes natural disasters very common. For example the island of Java is tectonically unstable. In 2004 there was a 9.2 earthquake and tsunami that devastated the islands. The tectonic activity also causes tall mountains some 3,000 to 3,800 meters above sea level. These can be found on Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Seram. The tallest mountain in Indonesia are the Jayawijaya mountains and Sudirman mountains in Irian Jaya, 4,700-5,000 meters tall. Besides mountains, Indonesia is covered in lush rain forests and coastal plains. Several rivers such as the Barito, Digul, Hari, Kampar, Kapuas, Kayan, and Musi dot the landscape. In Irian Jaya, New Guinea has snow capped peaks with humid valleys. Some believe that New Guinea once was a piece of Australia before the continental drift.There are about 400 volcanoes in the Indonesian border, 90 active. From volcanic ash the soil is rich and fertile. The tallest mountain in Indonesia used to be Mount Tambora but it erupted in 1815 and killed 71,000 people. Ash from the explosion was recorded in Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, and Maluku. Between 1982 and 1991 29 eruptions were recorded, mostly located in Java.
Climate and Environment
Eighty percent of Indonesia was forests in 1960. Now researchers estimate that about 2.4 million of acres a year are clear cut for pulp, paper, plywood, and palm oil industries. Currently under half of all the forests in Indonesia remain. 70% of the forests clear cut are on mineral soils and 30% on peat-land. Indonesia is a highly diverse ecosystem with about 3,000 different animal species. Many animals are extinct or are threatened. An example is the Javan Tiger, which is now extinct and orangutans which are extremely threatened. As more and more land is converted to industry many of the animal species lose their habitats and die. Deforestation does not only affect the natural environment. It is estimated that the forests provide 75% of GDP of poor, rural Indonesians who live off the land. Rain forests are also sources of income fromecotourism. Forests provide capital that will make more money over time than deforestation. The destruction of rain forests in Indonesia is also a global crisis. Indonesia is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gasses in the world. Roughly 85% of these emissions are from deforestation. When rain forest and peat-land is destroyed, it releases carbon into the environment. Even with government protection, the forests are not safe from illegal lumber industries. The Indonesian government and industry also plans in the future to convert rain forests to palm oil and pulp plants.
History and Religion
Historians believe that the first Indonesians crossed across land bridges about 1.7 million years ago based on remains of Homo erectus found in Java. About 6,000 years ago, climate change and rising sea levels caused these bridges to become submerged. By the early common era Indonesia traded timber, spices, and resin to Asian countries. Roman histories even suggest that Indonesian outriggers had contact with the eastern coast of Africa. Regular exchanges between China and Indonesia didn’t begin before the 5th century. Localization was more important to the Indonesian people then foreign expansion. Most towns and cities emerged around estuaries and inland seas where they were sustained on seafood. Coastal communities learned to benefit from foreign trade and when available traded goods. Early Indonesian society formed hierarchy with ranks and symbols. Many of the names of places in Indonesian are unchanged since documentation. No groups were large enough to take over land, forming many small communities. The many Austronesian languages on the archipelago shows the complexity and number of tribes which have formed the modern Indonesian culture. One of the major Indonesian religions, especially in Bali, is Hinduism. It was brought from India to Indonesia by Brahmans teaching shaivism and personal immortality. Sanskrit inscriptions from the 5th and 6th century were found in eastern Kalimantan and western Java. The revealed that Indian priests and their Indonesian disciples were honored in some royal courts. The Raka, heads of villages, worshiped Shiva to aid them in war, grant them Shiva’s grace, and maintain a favorable position in the after life. The Rakas’ influence also led to the spread of Hinduism. The main religion in Indonesia Islam. It made a come back about two decades ago with the change to democracy. Before it seeded itself into Indonesian culture in 1945, after they gained independence from the Dutch. Before democracy many educated in Indonesia turned their back on religion. Now people are finding a balance between being openly religious and educated. The image of Islam as a religion is widely affected by the western image. Some people believe that the Islam party will dominate elections. However roughly out of the forty Islamic parties only a couple gain a seat in the house. People in Indonesia vote for the parties which will help the Indonesian people not based off of their religion or beliefs. Many of the Islamic party’s beliefs are anti-corruption, welfare, and liberalizing the economy. Indonesian Islam is more relaxed than in the Middle East. An example is that full berkas are very uncommon. Most women where a head shawl and clothing that covers the shoulders and butt.
Economy and Government
The main philosophy of Indonesian democracy is called Pancasila. This includes the belief in one god, just and civilized humanism, unity of Indonesia, democratic citizenship lead by wide guidance born of representative consultation, and social justice for all Indonesians. Indonesia is broken into thirty three provinces. The executive branch is centralized under the president, vice president, and cabinet of ministers. The legislative authority includes the the People’s Consultative Assembly which is composed of two bodies. The parliament and regional representative council. Each province votes in four delegates which act in this council. The Indonesian Government has been trying to improve the business environment. They are upgrading power and infrastructure to increase capital GDP. Some constraints against economic growth are an inflexible labor market, long standing protectionist laws, and subsidies to state owned enterprises. In 1998, when the Authoritarian ruler, General Suharto stepped down, 262 million citizens enjoyed political and religious freedoms. Indonesia has a high participation in political process. Some exports from Indonesia are mineral fuels, animal/vegetable fats, electrical machinery, rubber, and mechanical appliance parts. The current Indonesian president is Joko Widodo. The vice president is Jusuf Kalla.
Education System
In Indonesian schools the government requires students to wear uniforms. All uniforms for every school is very similar. In elementary school, students wear either red shorts or skirts with white t-shirts. In junior high they wear the same outfit but it is colored blue. In high school they wear grey and boys are required to wear trousers. Not wearing the uniform is a serious punishment however it is allowed for muslim girls to wear long sleeves, ankle high dresses, and scarfs. Every Monday Indonesian schools have a flag salute. They form lines where a few are chosen to raise the flag while the rest sing the national anthem and recite the constitution. At school the teachers are addressed as Pak, sir or Bu, mrs. The school week lasts from Monday to Friday and used to go till Saturday. School starts around 7 AM and ends around 3PM although some schools are different. Students take up to fifteen subjects per semester. Extracurricular activities happen after school and run up to 5 PM. The school year starts around July and ends early June. Students have holiday breaks as well as breaks between semesters and midterms.
Cuisine
Lots of food in Indonesia is very spicy. As Ardie, our district’s Indonesian exchange student said, “The best food in Indonesia is spicy.” One favorite in Indonesia is Nasi Goreng, fried rice. You can find this dish in restaurants or sold by a vendor. Unlike Chinese fried rice nasi goreng is made with sambals, special indonesian sauces, shrimp paste, and kecap manis. It has a smokey taste and is seasoned with galangal root, turmeric, and ginger. It is most popular in the Maylay Islands. Another classic indonesian dish is rendang. It originates from West Sumatra and is a caramelized beef stew with lots of spices. It can be described as a coconut curry meets a beef stew. Unlike most stews, rendang has no vegetables, pulling full attention the the beef or lamb used as the protein. Sambals are found in almost any Indonesian dishes. They are a variety of sauces made from the core Indonesian spices, turmeric, galangal root, shallots, garlic and chilies, balanced out by coconut milk, tamarin, or tomato sauce. Sambals are almost like the Indonesian versions of salsas except instead of being an add on, dishes revolve around them.
Health and Adolescents
Indonesia’s population from 2016 is 261,115,000 people. The life expectancy is about 70.8 years of age. 29% of the population is under 15 years old and only 5% are above 65. It is suggested that over one third of children under 5 have stunted growth. About 28 million people live below the poverty level and many just above it. Indonesia has an extreme amounts of smoking and about 400,000 die each year from smoking related illnesses. A major killer of young children is unsafe drinking water. In Indonesian cities they have huge air conditioned malls which teenagers go to hang out and escape the heat. Teenagers also do outdoor recreation such as going to the beach or on hikes. Some girls who are devout Muslims wear Hijab or head scarfs. Some teenagers are influenced by western fashions while others, influenced by Korea. About 28% of Indonesia's population is between ten to twenty four years old. Literacy rates are high, more than 99%. About one in for girls are married before age 18. There is little education about reproductive health so there are high rates of STD’s and unwanted pregnancies. However the Indonesian youth is a growing population which has been growing in power. They bring new, liberal ideas to Indonesia. Drinking age is 17 and smoking cigarettes is very popular. Other drugs are frowned upon and if you are caught selling them could be killed by firing squad.
Sports
Indonesia has several popular sports. Pencak Silat is a Indonesian martial art which uses bladed and hand to hand techniques. Football (soccer) is probably the most popular sport. Indonesia was the first Asian country to qualify for the FIFA world cup in 1938. In the Olympics Indonesia is very good at badminton. They, along with China sweep up gold medals in this sport each year. Basketball is also popular. Indonesia is one of the bigger names in the Southeast Asia conference. Finally, lots of surfers are attracted to Indonesia for killer waves. Bali is very popular as well as the west side of Java.
Current Events
Indonesia had an election recently. The main candidates were the former president Joko Widodo running for a second five year term and an ex-general who was married to the former dictator’s daughter. Widodo’s main running points are expanding social programs and infrastructure. His opponent was nicknamed the “Trump of Indonesia”. He is a conservative Islamist who wanted the to expand the Islam on to Indonesian society. He was dismissed by the army because he kidnapped multiple activists while they were protesting against his father in law’s regime. Relations between the USA and Indonesia are strong. Indonesia is teh third largest democracy and 8th largest economy purchasing power. One of the first times the USA started Indonesian relations was in 1949 after Dutch independence. After Indonesia turned to democracy in 1998 both the USA and Indonesia have learned to benefit from one another. In 2010 both countries initiated a comprehensive partnership to further consistent engagement on democracy, civil society, education, security, climate, and etc.
Language
The main language in Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesian. Borrowing heavily from Javanese, Sudanese, Minangkabau, and some Dutch, Sanskrit, and Arabic. There are 726 different languages spoken across the Indonesian archipelago. Many people speak Indonesian as well as a local language. In school, they encouraged to learn a local language. 80.42 percent of Indonesians speak Bahasa Indonesia, 32.28 percent Javanese, 16.08% Sundanese, and the other languages, less than five percent. Some Indonesian slang is that when texting someone. Instead of using LOL or hahaha they use wkwkwkwk. While I'm in Indonesia I’ll probably keep a little notebook with me so I can write down new Indonesian words that I want to use. Afterwards I can always practice from my notes and try to use the phrases while talking to my host family. During school I will probably have time to practice my Indonesian grammar and writing. The only person I know who speaks Indonesian is Ardie in Santa Rosa and my future host family!
Rotary
There are two Rotary districts in Indonesia, District 3410 which includes most of Java, Jakarta, and across Sumatra. District 3420, (where I’m going) includes far Eastern Indonesia, Bali, and Eastern Java. I am going to be the first exchange student to Indonesia from our district. The current Indonesian outbound to our district is Ardie. District 3420 donates and does events towards their community. These actions include providing social service dental care for Indonesian youth, providing food to the poor, spreading awareness of sexual harassment, helping to fight polio, provide clean drinking water, and other acts of service. My host parent is Abriadi Muhara, I will have two cousins, a girl and a boy. He works at the university near Makassar and his wife, my host mom lives in Surabaya. I will be living in the city of Sungguminasa which is near Makassar, a big city. The island is Sulawesi which is Eastern Indonesia.
Personal Food Traditions
by Zane Taylor
In my family my father cooks most of the food. If you ask my mom if she likes to cook she will answer a definite, “No!” She would rather be active or exercise, when she does cook, her specialties are soups. She makes curries, butternut squash soup, chilies, and stews. Every time she makes a soup it tastes different then the last time she made it. She never follows recipes, and for better or worse, adds her own twists and turns. Sometimes her squash soup has curry influences other times it is your classic squash soup with cheese. My family also eats a lot of salads. My mom has several beside a green salad which she likes to make. One is a bean, cilantro, and mango salad, another is a coleslaw, and my favorite, a tomato, basil, mozzarella, and balsamic vinegar salad. We try to use home grown vegetables in our salads.
My dad on the other hand has a vast repertoire of family favorite recipes. One of them being salmon. As a fisherman, my father loves to catch and cook fish. In the summer we eat fresh caught salmon and halibut. When he cooks fish, it is cooked to perfection. Juicy and tender, with a balance of seasoning, and no fishy aftertaste. My family always looks forward to any fish he prepares. My favorite is when he cooks thin fillets, soaks them in Soy Vay and lemon mixture, and sears them. My dad also smokes fish by hand. He has his own personal smoker which he keeps in the garage. His secret recipe includes brown sugar, garlic, and pepper. Unlike other people’s smoked fish, his is not too salty and not too fishy, always delicious, and a special treat. He also has friends who crab and sometimes brings back a dozen of crabs. He boils them and we line the table with newspaper and little cups of butter. My dad also makes crab stuffed mushrooms and crab cakes. My dad’s other food specialty are his stir fry. He got a wok when he went to college from his mom. It is one of his prized possessions and he cleans and oils it after every time he uses it. He cooks and sautes everything from meats to vegetables. When he cooks the whole house is filled with a tasty aroma.
I don’t really have any experiences of food from my culture. My dad is adopted and my mom is descended from Russian Jews. A recipe that my dad takes from his mom's thanksgiving dinner. My grandmother taught my dad how to stuff and dress a turkey. She also taught my sister her special recipe for mashed potatoes. We have pictures of my sister and my grandma cooking crab together. Another memory with food is that my grandma would always keep a jar of jelly beans at her house. When I was a little kid I called her the “Jelly Bean Grandma” and would always look forward to the little dish of jelly beans at their house. My family has made their our own culture in what we eat. This fall we had a Maya, a German exchange student come visit us. While she was here she cooked a German dinner for us. It included lemon roasted salmon and scalloped cheesy potatoes. The fish was cooked in its juices in the oven and the potatoes were cooked until they had a nice golden brown topping. Of course my mom made a salad with the meal. Our neighbor, my friend stopped by on that night. We shared the meal with him, my parents, Maya, and I. After dinner everybody was stuffed and satisfied. Like any good German meal, it was fatty, savory, and delicious.
In my backyard my parents have a large garden. With several berry bushes, fruit trees, and vegetables, most meals in summer are cooked using homegrown food. Sometimes I go out into our garden and feast myself on strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. I remember days when I was younger, sitting in our netted blueberry enclosure, waiting the days away. Last summer I climbed up into our plum tree to help my mom pick the fruit too high for her to reach. We used one of my dads fishing nets and a rake to make a makeshift plum picker. In our garden we also grow green beans, one of my favorite foods when I was younger were green beans with tomato sauce. I also like eating them raw, picking and eating them straight from the plant. We also have an Asian pear tree and several apple trees. I like making pies from scratch using homegrown fruit. Making sure to add lots of cinnamon and sugar. My favorite plants in our garden are the strawberry bushes. Big, plump, juicy, strawberries, grown with care from my dad. His other specialty is garlic. In our garage he hangs cloves and cloves of garlic, waiting for them to dry. We also raise chickens and collect their eggs.
At home my parents have taught me to cook for myself. My dad taught me when I was a little kid to cook scrambled eggs. I would also cook grilled cheeses and quesadillas. I remember cooking grilled cheeses with my sister and burning cheese on purpose to eat a greasy, cheesy treat. Another dish I prepared as a little kid was fried rice. After my sister cooked it, I liked it so much that I wanted to replicate it. My recipes are always different, adding whatever is in the fridge. I have become a master at manipulating leftovers into other recipes. One time when we didn't have red sauce I used the blender, seasoning, and a can of tomatoes to make red sauce which tasted better than any store bought can. Something my parents taught me which I am grateful for is healthy eating habits. My family always has a salad for every meal. They have showed me the importance of growing and cooking their own food. I will take the lessons I learned from them and use it in my future.
~ Narrative Essay Archive 2015-2016 ~
A Hoof Beat Away From Courage
by Kylie Keating
It was a scorching and sweltering summer day, luckily I had the cool, calming tin roof to be under. As I looked down the quiet barn alley, I was thinking that by winter there would be horses begging to be let out of their stalls, and wanting you to pet them. As the cold air rushed past me from a gentle breeze, I could smell the dust rising from the arena.. I thought it would feel nice after having sweat drip down my back from working the horse so hard. As I waited for Tia, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I knew this was the lesson where I would lope on Vegas. I tried to keep myself calm; I was 13; turning 14 in November, I was tall and had long legs like a long lean branch, and I was very nervous. I had loped before many times on a horse. All were, for the most part, great experiences. The horse I had before Vegas was not enjoyable though. When I had asked Cracker (my other horse) to lope, he would get all nutty and senseless. I would get scared and he would crow hop me off. Let me tell you, it was not fun to land in the dusty, dirty, dirt. As I came back from my flashback, Vegas neighed and pawed impatiently. Scratch, scratch.
“Ok, ok.” I said to him and then asked him to walk on. Tia opened the gate and it began.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As the dust floated behind Vegas, I heard Tia say, “Good job, now we are going to lope.”
“OK,” I said in a quivering voice.
“ You haven’t loped him yet?”
“ No, I was scared that I would get bucked off”
“I wouldn’t put you through that again, Kylie you can do this. I wouldn’t put you on another horse that would degrade your confidence.”
“OK” I said more confidently.
I was thinking, you are 13 now. You have been riding since you were five. You have loped before, and nothing is going to go wrong. You are strong and confident. You have a horse who is depending on you to take control. Just take a deep breath and go. I sat straight in the saddle, realizing I should have lengthened the stirrups again. My legs were growing so fast it was as if I had string beans protruding from each hip socket. The helmet pinched my hair and I had to pull it out. It was hard to focus on counting to the rhythm of his legs. “ Up, down, up, down,up,...”
My last final thought before I asked him was: Uh oh, am I ready for this, Uh oh do I have the confidence for this, Uh oh is Vegas prepared for my uncoordinated body signals? You know what? Push that out of your head, you can do this.
As I squeezed my legs and kissed with my mouth, Vegas picked up the lope. As I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst, I realized I was still on Vegas and he was loping. I looked at Tia with a big, bright grin on my face. I was jubilant! For so many times, I had been crow hopped off, landing on the ground or on the neck of my other horse. It would be a rarity if I was in the saddle at the end of the lesson. I felt so confident that I loped the other way also. As I was on the other side I realized that Vegas was boosting my confidence and that he was the horse for me. That my other horse would have just deflated my confidence. With Vegas my confidence shot off like a rocket.Vegas was my rocket and we were taking off. I counted down in my head. 5,4,3,2, take off. I then felt as if I were soaring over a grassy green field with nothing stopping me.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fresh page, doing something new. That’s what Vegas did for me. He changed me, he made me happy about horses again. As I opened the gate, as I walked down the barn aisle, as I tied Vegas up I had a big smile on my face and no one was going to take it off. I was feeling as elated as if it were my birthday, simply overjoyed. Scott; Tia’s husband, was there trimming a horse's hoof. He asked how it was, and I said enthusiastically, “Amazing, I didn’t fall off this time!”
When my mom picked me up, I told her all about it. I said.“ Vegas and I were great you should have been there!”
“Ok, next time I will be there”
When I got in the car, I told my mom everything. When I got home, I told my family. When I went back to school the next day, I told all my friends and I was cheerful for the rest of the week.
How I changed from this experience was just how those things in life can snag you. You get frustrated and finally lose hope. You should never, ever give up. Have someone who you trust and love help you, to get back on the right track. To start on a fresh page.
by Kylie Keating
It was a scorching and sweltering summer day, luckily I had the cool, calming tin roof to be under. As I looked down the quiet barn alley, I was thinking that by winter there would be horses begging to be let out of their stalls, and wanting you to pet them. As the cold air rushed past me from a gentle breeze, I could smell the dust rising from the arena.. I thought it would feel nice after having sweat drip down my back from working the horse so hard. As I waited for Tia, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I knew this was the lesson where I would lope on Vegas. I tried to keep myself calm; I was 13; turning 14 in November, I was tall and had long legs like a long lean branch, and I was very nervous. I had loped before many times on a horse. All were, for the most part, great experiences. The horse I had before Vegas was not enjoyable though. When I had asked Cracker (my other horse) to lope, he would get all nutty and senseless. I would get scared and he would crow hop me off. Let me tell you, it was not fun to land in the dusty, dirty, dirt. As I came back from my flashback, Vegas neighed and pawed impatiently. Scratch, scratch.
“Ok, ok.” I said to him and then asked him to walk on. Tia opened the gate and it began.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As the dust floated behind Vegas, I heard Tia say, “Good job, now we are going to lope.”
“OK,” I said in a quivering voice.
“ You haven’t loped him yet?”
“ No, I was scared that I would get bucked off”
“I wouldn’t put you through that again, Kylie you can do this. I wouldn’t put you on another horse that would degrade your confidence.”
“OK” I said more confidently.
I was thinking, you are 13 now. You have been riding since you were five. You have loped before, and nothing is going to go wrong. You are strong and confident. You have a horse who is depending on you to take control. Just take a deep breath and go. I sat straight in the saddle, realizing I should have lengthened the stirrups again. My legs were growing so fast it was as if I had string beans protruding from each hip socket. The helmet pinched my hair and I had to pull it out. It was hard to focus on counting to the rhythm of his legs. “ Up, down, up, down,up,...”
My last final thought before I asked him was: Uh oh, am I ready for this, Uh oh do I have the confidence for this, Uh oh is Vegas prepared for my uncoordinated body signals? You know what? Push that out of your head, you can do this.
As I squeezed my legs and kissed with my mouth, Vegas picked up the lope. As I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst, I realized I was still on Vegas and he was loping. I looked at Tia with a big, bright grin on my face. I was jubilant! For so many times, I had been crow hopped off, landing on the ground or on the neck of my other horse. It would be a rarity if I was in the saddle at the end of the lesson. I felt so confident that I loped the other way also. As I was on the other side I realized that Vegas was boosting my confidence and that he was the horse for me. That my other horse would have just deflated my confidence. With Vegas my confidence shot off like a rocket.Vegas was my rocket and we were taking off. I counted down in my head. 5,4,3,2, take off. I then felt as if I were soaring over a grassy green field with nothing stopping me.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fresh page, doing something new. That’s what Vegas did for me. He changed me, he made me happy about horses again. As I opened the gate, as I walked down the barn aisle, as I tied Vegas up I had a big smile on my face and no one was going to take it off. I was feeling as elated as if it were my birthday, simply overjoyed. Scott; Tia’s husband, was there trimming a horse's hoof. He asked how it was, and I said enthusiastically, “Amazing, I didn’t fall off this time!”
When my mom picked me up, I told her all about it. I said.“ Vegas and I were great you should have been there!”
“Ok, next time I will be there”
When I got in the car, I told my mom everything. When I got home, I told my family. When I went back to school the next day, I told all my friends and I was cheerful for the rest of the week.
How I changed from this experience was just how those things in life can snag you. You get frustrated and finally lose hope. You should never, ever give up. Have someone who you trust and love help you, to get back on the right track. To start on a fresh page.
Small Talk
by Katherine Oberlander
We whizzed around another roundabout in Bretagne, France, the electronic navigator instructing us to “Tourner la deuxième sortie!” for what seemed like the fiftieth time since we left the hotel. I had just turned 14. My blue and pink glasses rose slightly when I smiled, giving the impression of raised eyebrows. I had a NASA baseball cap as blue as Neptune, and long blonde hair. I twirled my hair then as we drove through foreign streets. The blinker made a tinkly, chiming sound that we very soon grew very tired of. Carsick from the roundabouts, I stared wearily out the window at the blue-grey sky. Though it was July, this oceanside area of France still had a slight chill in the air.
“When are we going to be there?” my younger sister, Julia, inquired.
“The navigator says 20 minutes,” I responded.
Half an hour later, we were driving back and forth a narrow road, trying to find the house, all the while the navigator chirping that we had, indeed, reached our destination, which was less than helpful. Finally, we pulled into the driveway of my fourth cousin’s house. I was excited to meet my cousin, who was 14 like I was, but I was also slightly nervous, as I had accidently left my folder full of French phrases in California, and my French was extremely limited. I opened my door and looped my sky blue purse around my shoulder and neck. My packet of origami paper was in there. Origami always seemed to work as an icebreaker. We walked up to the house and knocked.
Two adults whom I didn’t know opened the door and greeted us with la bise, which I found rather awkward. I saw my cousin, and I really wasn’t sure if I should kiss her cheeks, too. We awkwardly kissed one cheek. I later learned that teens don’t do la bise if they don’t know each other.
My cousin’s name was Anaïs. She was petite, with long brown hair, large eyes, and, surprisingly, a shirt with English words on it. She scrunched up her mouth when she was unsure. I knew she was at least a year ahead of me education-wise, as French schools are strict and hold high expectations; meanwhile, America’s math program scores #27th worldwide.
We were led through the dining room and living room and out to the porch. The green grass was soft under our sandals; there was a soft, blue-green scented breeze; and chairs with pastel cushions were set out. I slowly sat down. I felt so awkward and slightly embarrassed. If the French were the respectable banner ads in coordinating colours next to the article, Americans were loud pop-up ads with clashing colors and video clips that play at top volume.
I was offered menthe à l'eau, a sweet French drink made with mint flavored syrup and water. The woman came back with a large plastic bottle and poured the green liquid into my sister and my glasses. It tasted like liquid gum, or maybe mouthwash: two things taught to all little kids as things they should, under no circumstances, swallow. After you got over the initial shock of the unexpected flavor, it was actually good. We listened to the adults catch up with each other.
Anaïs and I tried to make small talk.
“‘Allo, ‘ow are you?” Anaïs asked.
“Ça va bien, merci. Et…vous?” I responded, still having difficulties with formal and informal pronouns. And even I could tell my accent was awful: my French R’s sounded like I was in desperate need of the Heimlich maneuver.
“I am fan, zank you,” Anaïs replied. We slipped back into awkward silence.
After a bit, Julia asked for my origami paper so she could show Anaïs how to make an origami cabbage. She and Anaïs sat on the grass, folding paper together. I was so annoyed. I knew it was childish, but I wanted to be Anaïs’s friend, and it felt like Julia was stealing her from me. I bit my lip, I played with my hair nervously, I felt anxious to leave and go back to the hotel room.
They finished the cabbages. I was busy looking at Mom, trying to signal with my eyes, “Let’s go back to the hotel room! It has WiFi! It has my backpack! It has T.V.!” while my mom chatted with our relatives who were busy saying what a shame it was that my mom didn’t know much French. My mom laughed, shrugged it off, with a crinkly-eyed smile. Julia tapped me. “Hey, Kate, can you help us make the origami lily?” she requested. I agreed, sat down shyly, and passed out fresh pieces of my patterned paper. I took a deep breath. I began.
It was strange teaching origami to someone who didn’t understand English. I spoke for Julia’s benefit, but relied more on the tone of my voice and showing the folds on my own paper. I used bien to affirm, and a “hmm…” to indicate something wasn’t right. When Anaïs was having trouble with the squash fold and I was helping, I noticed I still spoke about it in English, though it was still rather pointless. Soon our lilies were complete. The three of us smiled. Smiles, I noticed, could start to chip away the language barrier.
The small, plump dog wandered over, hoping for some of our crackers and salmon. Anaïs explained that his name was Charlie. There was another younger dog called Rose who ran around the house. I let Charlie sniff my hand, then I pet him. Charlie put his front paws on my leg as I sat cross-legged on the damp grass. Anaïs told me “He like you”, referring to Charlie. I smiled as Julia took a picture with my phone.
Anaïs said something in French. I was confused, and responded with a blockish “Je ne comprends pas.” She tried again, but I shook my head, shrugging, as did Julia. Anaïs finally just said, “Come!” and led us to the hammock. There, we put our bare feet on the hard, dusty ground, leaned back on the hammock, walked backwards, and said, “Un, deux, trois!” and pulled up our feet. The hammock swung wildly forwards and we laughed. We continued that for quite a while, insisting on counting in the other’s language, until we noticed the way the branch was creaking with the stress.
We ran into the dry field in their backyard and turned cartwheels (or, in my case, attempting and failing). Anaïs had perfect cartwheels. Mine always somehow ended up as log rolls or somersaults. At one point, Mom came over and cartwheeled with us, too. Laughing, we dusted ourselves off. Anaïs went over to one of the surrounding trees and plucked an unripe apple off. We played catch, then catch with three apples, then we hid and searched for the apples like an Easter egg hunt. Charlie came, wanting to play, and we ran around with him. Anaïs picked more apples and we counted them in each other’s language. Anaïs taught me quinze and I taught her thirty. The golden sunlight embraced us as we played like kindergarteners, which made me notice a benefit of the language barrier: we could play like younger kids, who don’t “sit and chat”, but run free.
Too soon, the adults called us in for dinner. We went inside and sat down at the table as our hosts finished preparing the meal. Then I had an idea. I went up to my mom, who had a phone that could connect to the cellular data in France. “Could I use Google Translate on your phone, please?” I requested. My mom agreed and handed me her phone. I set the phone between Anaïs and me and opened Google Translate. I typed in, “Now we can talk! 🙂” I was careful to keep my sentences simple and short so that the program, notoriously a bad translator, wouldn’t tell Anaïs something like, “I likes cheesecake and pineapple number of?”
Blink! The words appeared in French below where I typed. Anaïs saw and smiled. She clicked the ⇆ icon and responded, “Yes! So cool!”
We were all at the table. There was seafood and meat, salad and bread. We were permitted to use the phone during dinner, even though having electronics at the dinner table was usually not allowed. My dad suggested, “Ask her if she likes Nutella.” (I loved Nutella. A lot. I once made the most amazing food by mixing sweetened condensed milk into Nutella and eating it. But that’s a story for another time.)
I typed in, “Do you like Nutella?”
Anaïs slowly typed, “Yes! I love Nutella, I have it always! 😋😋😋😋😋😋😀😀😀😀”
I responded, “Me, too!” Then I realised that Anaïs was typing slowly because in France, they don’t use the qwerty keyboard, they use the azerty keyboard. I changed the keyboard to azerty. This worked for both of us, as she was used to the azerty keyboard and I had a fair amount of practice with it as well. Anaïs responded to the change, “This is much easier. I usually use this keyboard.”
It was beautiful to watch someone’s thoughts, once inaccessible, suddenly dance on a screen in a way I could understand. It was indescribable.
Dinner finally ended. We ran outside and, now that we could communicate more, could play pretend. We played that we were pirate cats on a boat that was the hammock, communicating mainly with “Arr” and “Meow”. The hammock flipped over and we got up, laughing. I couldn’t help but realise that if we had spoken the same language, we might never have had this much fun.
It was dark out. The cool night air brushed across our cheeks. We were having so much fun. Our mom came, saying that we had to go. Julia and I sighed. Our mom pointed out, “It’s ten o’clock! I’m happy you’ve had so much time to play, but it’s time to go. Do you want to trade numbers?”
Anaïs got the phone and made a contact for herself, typing in her number. “Yay! Merci!” I said. Because my little sister had no phone, Anaïs gave Julia her email address.
We walked out into the driveway, into the starry ink of night.
“Au revoir!” Julia and I called.
“Goodbye!” Anaïs called.
Julia and I reluctantly got into the car. Anaïs, Julia, and I called “Goodbye!” in French and English until they went inside and we disappeared around a bend. I rolled up my window, rested my head against the seat, closed my eyes.
That day, I learned that the language barrier is only a problem if you make it one. With our very limited vocabulary, Anaïs and I still had fun together, and we played in a way we would never have, had we spoken the same language. I also learned to be less shy socially. If I hadn’t gotten over my initial awkward feelings, I would never have befriended my cousin. In all, meeting Anaïs taught me that smiles and play can cross languages, you just have to be outgoing enough to begin. I met a friend that day, a friend I hope to return to one day.
* * *
The Earth has revolved halfway around the Sun since I met Anaïs. Our solar system has traveled, along with our arm of the Milky Way, 2,261,880,000 miles around our black hole center. I continue to text her, though between a nine-hour time difference and the heavy homework load of high school, it’s rare for us to text. But on New Year’s Eve, at 3:04 P.M., I received a text from Anaïs.
“Bonne année et bonne santé”
Glossary
Bien: Good/well
Bonne année et bonne santé: Happy New Year’s (Literally “Good year and good health”)
Ça va bien, merci: I am well, thank you.
Et vous?: And you? (formal)
Je ne comprends pas: I don’t understand. (I made good use of this phrase!)
La bise: “The kiss”, the kisses on the cheeks the French use when greeting friends and family.
Menthe à l'eau: French mint flavored beverage. Literally “mint in the water”
Tourner la deuxième sortie: Take the second exit.
Quinze: Fifteen
Un, deux, trois: One, two, three
by Katherine Oberlander
We whizzed around another roundabout in Bretagne, France, the electronic navigator instructing us to “Tourner la deuxième sortie!” for what seemed like the fiftieth time since we left the hotel. I had just turned 14. My blue and pink glasses rose slightly when I smiled, giving the impression of raised eyebrows. I had a NASA baseball cap as blue as Neptune, and long blonde hair. I twirled my hair then as we drove through foreign streets. The blinker made a tinkly, chiming sound that we very soon grew very tired of. Carsick from the roundabouts, I stared wearily out the window at the blue-grey sky. Though it was July, this oceanside area of France still had a slight chill in the air.
“When are we going to be there?” my younger sister, Julia, inquired.
“The navigator says 20 minutes,” I responded.
Half an hour later, we were driving back and forth a narrow road, trying to find the house, all the while the navigator chirping that we had, indeed, reached our destination, which was less than helpful. Finally, we pulled into the driveway of my fourth cousin’s house. I was excited to meet my cousin, who was 14 like I was, but I was also slightly nervous, as I had accidently left my folder full of French phrases in California, and my French was extremely limited. I opened my door and looped my sky blue purse around my shoulder and neck. My packet of origami paper was in there. Origami always seemed to work as an icebreaker. We walked up to the house and knocked.
Two adults whom I didn’t know opened the door and greeted us with la bise, which I found rather awkward. I saw my cousin, and I really wasn’t sure if I should kiss her cheeks, too. We awkwardly kissed one cheek. I later learned that teens don’t do la bise if they don’t know each other.
My cousin’s name was Anaïs. She was petite, with long brown hair, large eyes, and, surprisingly, a shirt with English words on it. She scrunched up her mouth when she was unsure. I knew she was at least a year ahead of me education-wise, as French schools are strict and hold high expectations; meanwhile, America’s math program scores #27th worldwide.
We were led through the dining room and living room and out to the porch. The green grass was soft under our sandals; there was a soft, blue-green scented breeze; and chairs with pastel cushions were set out. I slowly sat down. I felt so awkward and slightly embarrassed. If the French were the respectable banner ads in coordinating colours next to the article, Americans were loud pop-up ads with clashing colors and video clips that play at top volume.
I was offered menthe à l'eau, a sweet French drink made with mint flavored syrup and water. The woman came back with a large plastic bottle and poured the green liquid into my sister and my glasses. It tasted like liquid gum, or maybe mouthwash: two things taught to all little kids as things they should, under no circumstances, swallow. After you got over the initial shock of the unexpected flavor, it was actually good. We listened to the adults catch up with each other.
Anaïs and I tried to make small talk.
“‘Allo, ‘ow are you?” Anaïs asked.
“Ça va bien, merci. Et…vous?” I responded, still having difficulties with formal and informal pronouns. And even I could tell my accent was awful: my French R’s sounded like I was in desperate need of the Heimlich maneuver.
“I am fan, zank you,” Anaïs replied. We slipped back into awkward silence.
After a bit, Julia asked for my origami paper so she could show Anaïs how to make an origami cabbage. She and Anaïs sat on the grass, folding paper together. I was so annoyed. I knew it was childish, but I wanted to be Anaïs’s friend, and it felt like Julia was stealing her from me. I bit my lip, I played with my hair nervously, I felt anxious to leave and go back to the hotel room.
They finished the cabbages. I was busy looking at Mom, trying to signal with my eyes, “Let’s go back to the hotel room! It has WiFi! It has my backpack! It has T.V.!” while my mom chatted with our relatives who were busy saying what a shame it was that my mom didn’t know much French. My mom laughed, shrugged it off, with a crinkly-eyed smile. Julia tapped me. “Hey, Kate, can you help us make the origami lily?” she requested. I agreed, sat down shyly, and passed out fresh pieces of my patterned paper. I took a deep breath. I began.
It was strange teaching origami to someone who didn’t understand English. I spoke for Julia’s benefit, but relied more on the tone of my voice and showing the folds on my own paper. I used bien to affirm, and a “hmm…” to indicate something wasn’t right. When Anaïs was having trouble with the squash fold and I was helping, I noticed I still spoke about it in English, though it was still rather pointless. Soon our lilies were complete. The three of us smiled. Smiles, I noticed, could start to chip away the language barrier.
The small, plump dog wandered over, hoping for some of our crackers and salmon. Anaïs explained that his name was Charlie. There was another younger dog called Rose who ran around the house. I let Charlie sniff my hand, then I pet him. Charlie put his front paws on my leg as I sat cross-legged on the damp grass. Anaïs told me “He like you”, referring to Charlie. I smiled as Julia took a picture with my phone.
Anaïs said something in French. I was confused, and responded with a blockish “Je ne comprends pas.” She tried again, but I shook my head, shrugging, as did Julia. Anaïs finally just said, “Come!” and led us to the hammock. There, we put our bare feet on the hard, dusty ground, leaned back on the hammock, walked backwards, and said, “Un, deux, trois!” and pulled up our feet. The hammock swung wildly forwards and we laughed. We continued that for quite a while, insisting on counting in the other’s language, until we noticed the way the branch was creaking with the stress.
We ran into the dry field in their backyard and turned cartwheels (or, in my case, attempting and failing). Anaïs had perfect cartwheels. Mine always somehow ended up as log rolls or somersaults. At one point, Mom came over and cartwheeled with us, too. Laughing, we dusted ourselves off. Anaïs went over to one of the surrounding trees and plucked an unripe apple off. We played catch, then catch with three apples, then we hid and searched for the apples like an Easter egg hunt. Charlie came, wanting to play, and we ran around with him. Anaïs picked more apples and we counted them in each other’s language. Anaïs taught me quinze and I taught her thirty. The golden sunlight embraced us as we played like kindergarteners, which made me notice a benefit of the language barrier: we could play like younger kids, who don’t “sit and chat”, but run free.
Too soon, the adults called us in for dinner. We went inside and sat down at the table as our hosts finished preparing the meal. Then I had an idea. I went up to my mom, who had a phone that could connect to the cellular data in France. “Could I use Google Translate on your phone, please?” I requested. My mom agreed and handed me her phone. I set the phone between Anaïs and me and opened Google Translate. I typed in, “Now we can talk! 🙂” I was careful to keep my sentences simple and short so that the program, notoriously a bad translator, wouldn’t tell Anaïs something like, “I likes cheesecake and pineapple number of?”
Blink! The words appeared in French below where I typed. Anaïs saw and smiled. She clicked the ⇆ icon and responded, “Yes! So cool!”
We were all at the table. There was seafood and meat, salad and bread. We were permitted to use the phone during dinner, even though having electronics at the dinner table was usually not allowed. My dad suggested, “Ask her if she likes Nutella.” (I loved Nutella. A lot. I once made the most amazing food by mixing sweetened condensed milk into Nutella and eating it. But that’s a story for another time.)
I typed in, “Do you like Nutella?”
Anaïs slowly typed, “Yes! I love Nutella, I have it always! 😋😋😋😋😋😋😀😀😀😀”
I responded, “Me, too!” Then I realised that Anaïs was typing slowly because in France, they don’t use the qwerty keyboard, they use the azerty keyboard. I changed the keyboard to azerty. This worked for both of us, as she was used to the azerty keyboard and I had a fair amount of practice with it as well. Anaïs responded to the change, “This is much easier. I usually use this keyboard.”
It was beautiful to watch someone’s thoughts, once inaccessible, suddenly dance on a screen in a way I could understand. It was indescribable.
Dinner finally ended. We ran outside and, now that we could communicate more, could play pretend. We played that we were pirate cats on a boat that was the hammock, communicating mainly with “Arr” and “Meow”. The hammock flipped over and we got up, laughing. I couldn’t help but realise that if we had spoken the same language, we might never have had this much fun.
It was dark out. The cool night air brushed across our cheeks. We were having so much fun. Our mom came, saying that we had to go. Julia and I sighed. Our mom pointed out, “It’s ten o’clock! I’m happy you’ve had so much time to play, but it’s time to go. Do you want to trade numbers?”
Anaïs got the phone and made a contact for herself, typing in her number. “Yay! Merci!” I said. Because my little sister had no phone, Anaïs gave Julia her email address.
We walked out into the driveway, into the starry ink of night.
“Au revoir!” Julia and I called.
“Goodbye!” Anaïs called.
Julia and I reluctantly got into the car. Anaïs, Julia, and I called “Goodbye!” in French and English until they went inside and we disappeared around a bend. I rolled up my window, rested my head against the seat, closed my eyes.
That day, I learned that the language barrier is only a problem if you make it one. With our very limited vocabulary, Anaïs and I still had fun together, and we played in a way we would never have, had we spoken the same language. I also learned to be less shy socially. If I hadn’t gotten over my initial awkward feelings, I would never have befriended my cousin. In all, meeting Anaïs taught me that smiles and play can cross languages, you just have to be outgoing enough to begin. I met a friend that day, a friend I hope to return to one day.
* * *
The Earth has revolved halfway around the Sun since I met Anaïs. Our solar system has traveled, along with our arm of the Milky Way, 2,261,880,000 miles around our black hole center. I continue to text her, though between a nine-hour time difference and the heavy homework load of high school, it’s rare for us to text. But on New Year’s Eve, at 3:04 P.M., I received a text from Anaïs.
“Bonne année et bonne santé”
Glossary
Bien: Good/well
Bonne année et bonne santé: Happy New Year’s (Literally “Good year and good health”)
Ça va bien, merci: I am well, thank you.
Et vous?: And you? (formal)
Je ne comprends pas: I don’t understand. (I made good use of this phrase!)
La bise: “The kiss”, the kisses on the cheeks the French use when greeting friends and family.
Menthe à l'eau: French mint flavored beverage. Literally “mint in the water”
Tourner la deuxième sortie: Take the second exit.
Quinze: Fifteen
Un, deux, trois: One, two, three
Jogging
by Ty Vizenor
“VROOMM VROOOOOM!” The car started up like a bear coming out of hibernation. I ran outside of the house and slammed the door. My mom shouted something about how we have to pick someone up after school because his mom was out jogging. But as usual, I didn’t listen. I was late. At my school, Garfield, the staff offered prizes if you were never late. My family hated those prizes, mostly because we never got them. As I ran outside the cold, crisp October air hit me like a slap in the face. The sun was fighting its never-ending war against the fog in the morning sky. The world smelled fresh and new as it was rising. It ever so slightly was peaking through the dense darkness and fog as if to say “What about me?” I was quite younger and was really interested in school. I loved every second of it. Then we locked our house’s door, we got into the car and we drove off to our next adventure.
When we arrived at school I was late, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone there. It was the first Friday of the month, which meant that our whole school of sixty kids was going to have a fun meeting in the multipurpose room. I always loved the meetings. They were always fun and happy. Garfield was a place of happiness, where no one was ever worried or scared, at least no one would show it. It was a lonely asteroid on a never-ending orbit around the planet called “Life”. But it seemed as today we were coming in at too much of an angle and might hit the planet. The meeting lasted all the way to our “ Snack Break”. We sat around for fifteen minutes and ate food. But I never ate, despite my mother’s displeasure. It was because there was way too much to see, do and of course, talk about. I was a talker. I never stopped ever, even when people would ask me to. So anyway our snack break quickly ended and we got back into the classroom.
As I lined up to go into the classroom I couldn’t help but notice a small group of stormy clouds hovering over the horizon. I should have noticed the signs but I really didn’t care. On this particular day we were learning about the distributive property and I stayed on task and paid attention. But I remember nothing from that entire lesson. As the teacher dismissed us I grabbed my stuff and ran outside for lunch.
At Garfield they would make you eat and sit at tables before you would go and play. For my class there were three tables to sit at. The boys table, the girls table and the other table. At the boys table they would talk mostly about video games, in which I would sit and be silent and not talk for once since I had no experience with the subject. At the girls table they would talk a lot. Most of which I only heard out of the side of my ear because most of the girls would never let me sit there. The girls were never nice to me. I believe its because the Queen of the Girls one time was talking about how cute pitbulls were, being myself I schooled her on how most pitbulls were trained to be a menace to society. There was no talking at the other table and that’s exactly why I hated it. Most of the time I would squeeze my way into the boys table but sometimes I would end up at the other table. Anyways this particular day I squeezed into boys table and got to hear them chat about Halo and Minecraft. Then it became time to go and play.
I quickly ran out and put my full lunch away. I didn’t eat anything, like usual. But I was ready to have fun. I ran out into playground and immediately got screamed at for running on the wood chips. But I didn’t let it faze me. Our little group decided o this particular day that we were going to play Lava Monster. It was a game where the monster had to tag all of the kids but could only walk on the wood chips. Soon the bell rang and lunch was over. As I ran back to my class I fell and got a face full of chips. I started crying. My perfect day was beginning to fall apart. I walked into the classroom to see ten parents inside crying. The teacher told us to sit down. Outside the window it started to sprinkle. The teacher then told us that our friend’s mom had been hit by a car jogging. And died at the scene. The thunder clapped overhead thousands of feet up but it felt like two feet away. After those words the world spiraled down around me and the wind howled like a monster stuck in a cage. Our little asteroid called Garfield had finally came out of orbit and crashed straight into the planet called Life. After that day I developed a different outlook on life. I found that anything great is not invincible and can be stolen in a split second without the slightest of warning. I learned to not take anything for granted and to live life ready to cope with any collision whether it be physical, emotional or both.
by Ty Vizenor
“VROOMM VROOOOOM!” The car started up like a bear coming out of hibernation. I ran outside of the house and slammed the door. My mom shouted something about how we have to pick someone up after school because his mom was out jogging. But as usual, I didn’t listen. I was late. At my school, Garfield, the staff offered prizes if you were never late. My family hated those prizes, mostly because we never got them. As I ran outside the cold, crisp October air hit me like a slap in the face. The sun was fighting its never-ending war against the fog in the morning sky. The world smelled fresh and new as it was rising. It ever so slightly was peaking through the dense darkness and fog as if to say “What about me?” I was quite younger and was really interested in school. I loved every second of it. Then we locked our house’s door, we got into the car and we drove off to our next adventure.
When we arrived at school I was late, which wasn’t a surprise to anyone there. It was the first Friday of the month, which meant that our whole school of sixty kids was going to have a fun meeting in the multipurpose room. I always loved the meetings. They were always fun and happy. Garfield was a place of happiness, where no one was ever worried or scared, at least no one would show it. It was a lonely asteroid on a never-ending orbit around the planet called “Life”. But it seemed as today we were coming in at too much of an angle and might hit the planet. The meeting lasted all the way to our “ Snack Break”. We sat around for fifteen minutes and ate food. But I never ate, despite my mother’s displeasure. It was because there was way too much to see, do and of course, talk about. I was a talker. I never stopped ever, even when people would ask me to. So anyway our snack break quickly ended and we got back into the classroom.
As I lined up to go into the classroom I couldn’t help but notice a small group of stormy clouds hovering over the horizon. I should have noticed the signs but I really didn’t care. On this particular day we were learning about the distributive property and I stayed on task and paid attention. But I remember nothing from that entire lesson. As the teacher dismissed us I grabbed my stuff and ran outside for lunch.
At Garfield they would make you eat and sit at tables before you would go and play. For my class there were three tables to sit at. The boys table, the girls table and the other table. At the boys table they would talk mostly about video games, in which I would sit and be silent and not talk for once since I had no experience with the subject. At the girls table they would talk a lot. Most of which I only heard out of the side of my ear because most of the girls would never let me sit there. The girls were never nice to me. I believe its because the Queen of the Girls one time was talking about how cute pitbulls were, being myself I schooled her on how most pitbulls were trained to be a menace to society. There was no talking at the other table and that’s exactly why I hated it. Most of the time I would squeeze my way into the boys table but sometimes I would end up at the other table. Anyways this particular day I squeezed into boys table and got to hear them chat about Halo and Minecraft. Then it became time to go and play.
I quickly ran out and put my full lunch away. I didn’t eat anything, like usual. But I was ready to have fun. I ran out into playground and immediately got screamed at for running on the wood chips. But I didn’t let it faze me. Our little group decided o this particular day that we were going to play Lava Monster. It was a game where the monster had to tag all of the kids but could only walk on the wood chips. Soon the bell rang and lunch was over. As I ran back to my class I fell and got a face full of chips. I started crying. My perfect day was beginning to fall apart. I walked into the classroom to see ten parents inside crying. The teacher told us to sit down. Outside the window it started to sprinkle. The teacher then told us that our friend’s mom had been hit by a car jogging. And died at the scene. The thunder clapped overhead thousands of feet up but it felt like two feet away. After those words the world spiraled down around me and the wind howled like a monster stuck in a cage. Our little asteroid called Garfield had finally came out of orbit and crashed straight into the planet called Life. After that day I developed a different outlook on life. I found that anything great is not invincible and can be stolen in a split second without the slightest of warning. I learned to not take anything for granted and to live life ready to cope with any collision whether it be physical, emotional or both.
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~ Essay Archive 2014-2015 ~