Memories of Summit High
By: Dani

I think my favorite memories of Summit High would be how much fun the classes are. I like to come to school and have easy classes because that will help me graduate, but at the same time I like a challenge.

I think another thing that I like is that I have fun with the people that are fun. Not everyone has a good day, but when most people are it is way fun to just chill with friends and talk about crazy and stupid things. I will miss all the people who make me laugh.

Another thing is that I liked the fact we had prom. That was SO much fun, even though I almost didn’t go because I thought it was going to be lame.

I will never forget my time at Summit High because it helped me to catch up on my graduation. I can’t wait till next year I am graduating and it is going to be amazing.

I will also miss all the people that have helped me through all the hard times I have had at this school, even though I didn’t deserve their help. It shows a lot of courage that people are willing to be my friend even though I am a very hard person to get along with. So, thank you all the people that have helped me.

I am very sad to go, but next year I am going to a new school like normal, but this time it is my choice, so I am happy.

I think the quote “Tolerance” relates to Persepolis and Hotel Rwanda in so many ways. I especially like the first sentence “ A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe” because it’s saying to me to not classify ourselves by race, groups, sex, anything like that, we are all a people in this world and we all need to contribute our own verses in it. Being a person who wants to shun people away and kill them off is wrong. They need to live and help out in this world.

I think if we were to not veil women and kill of people just because they are not like us is way more then wrong. I can’t explain how much I hate these things. We need to just all get along and let each other express ourselves without violence like we have for the past billion years. And I’m afraid of our generation being the new leaders of the world because I’m not sure anyone in our generation is ready to stand up for what is right, even though we know what we need to do I think we are scared to stand up for it.

I really want a lot more people not just in the school but every where; need to know what is going on in other world countries and not just what’s in our back yard. People need to just come together and realize we are not the only people that go through hell; people everywhere else are going through a lot worse stuff. People are dying not only in America but every where. We need to stop being selfish and help everyone not just ourselves.

Zach

MEMORIES
Rachel

I’m not going to miss this school. I came back thinking that it was going to be ask great as it was last year, but it didn’t even compare. I’ve met very select few people that I think I’ll stay in contact with. If I had to pick the very best memory, it would be Clear Creek. It was one of the best things that has happened this year. It challenged me with some of my fears, emotionally, physically and mentally.
As the year comes to an end, there’s a part of me that’s sad. I’m going to be a senior next year and my life is just beginning. I know there’s tons of things ahead that I’m going to have to do throughout life that are going to be hard, fun, etc. It’s all how I look at it I guess.
The staff is just amazing. You are truly heroes in my eyes. The way you strive to reach out to kids is outstanding. I don’t know if I could do the job.
I’m not going to be coming back to Summit next year. I think that my senior year should be spent in a mainstream school, so I can experience what I’ve been waiting for since I was a little girl. I wish the best to all of you. I truly hope that your life takes you where you want it to go. You can have the life that all desire and the life that everyone envies, you just have to want it bad enough. Be willing to step out there and help others to the top.

TOLERANCE
Rachel

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space.” –Albert Einstein. We are part of everything. It’s sort of like cause and effect. We choose to do something whether it is good or bad for us or others and it sets off a chain reaction to all these other things. Everyone has a limited time on this earth to find out what they’re meant to do; to find their true purpose. In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane-the main character- finds herself in a country she doesn’t know. She is very young and becomes interested in some bad habits. She gets to “experience herself, her thoughts and feelings”, without anyone really telling her that she can’t do this or that. I know that it’s good to have some kind of direction in your life, but it doesn’t always come from the ones that should give it to you.

“This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.” I flash back to all of the goals I’ve wished to accomplish in life, all the people I’ve loved and all the people I thought loved me. It’s hard to be hurt so many times and still have that thought in your mind that there’s still another boy out there. It’s hard to give someone your heart and trust them not to break it, and then after they do, try again. It’s hard to fail time after time and keep pushing on to achieve what you want. If some of us weren’t stuck in this “delusion” as Einstein puts it, think how much better our lives would be! Marjane is sent away from her family to keep her safe from war, she is in and out of homes of people she’s never even met! I think of myself and all the other children I know in Foster Care and how much it hurts to be taken from the ones you love. Even if it ends up that you being taken were truly the best thing for you it doesn’t take away that pain and the longing you have to actually belong somewhere, to someone.

“Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” From the beginning of this book I’ve thought about how strong she must be to live on her own at 17 on the streets. She is forced to become independent until she can return home. I believe that she did free herself from the prison of delusion and she saw the people of our world for who they really are. She started developing feelings for her boyfriend Markus and she thought she loved him. They broke up after a devastating scene Marji walked into. But she got out of the prison. She expanded her compassion for others and found her husband. That relationship didn’t work out either, but it definitely proves the point I think. We can all do as she did, and become tolerant of the world we live in.

Persepolis final

I chose the tolerance quote and this is how it goes.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. –Albert Einstein

This quote relates to both Persepolis and Hotel Rwanda. In Persepolis, Marjane, the main character, has many problems that lots of teenagers go through: drugs, parties, issues with the law, and many others. I think that at the time she is going through these stages she is just exploring herself. Then she starts to think about how her family would feel if they were seeing her in that position so she cleans up her act and goes into the phase of her personal desires and her families needs. She drifts back and forth exploring and caring for her family. She starts to care about others when she leaves Iran permanently.

In Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rosessabegina is a man with a very important job at a hotel, has good connections, and has a Tutsi wife and he is Hutu. Later in the movie when it becomes a bad thing to be a Tutsi because they are all being brutally murdered, Paul wants to save all of the connections that he has until his family needs help. He says that he can’t help the neighbors or anyone but family. He is in the delusion phase when the only thing that matters is him and his family. When Paul and his family get the chance to leave the war zone, you can see the change on his face when he decides to stay with the many people who are stuck at the hotel. He quickly went from the delusional phase to where he cared about others in the world. He knew that other people needed his help and he gave it. He was a wonderful man.

Aubri

Over coming Adversity and Challenges
By Nick

“We acquire the strength we have overcome”- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote applies to Persepolis because Marjane goes through almost everything you can go through as a kid and a teenager, between drugs and war to being cheated on by her boyfriend. After all she goes through in life she pulls her self together and overcomes her challenges and pulls through all her adversities. She turns her life around and becomes something better then some people thought she was going to be, she wrote a graphic novel.

The quote applies to Hotel Rwanda in a way even greater then Persepolis. Paul, the manager of the hotel saves tons of refugees from death by taking them into his hotel and risking his life by making that choice. The challenges he had to overcome were the fact that he is risking his and his family’s life for the refugees. I believe that at the end of the movie he wouldn’t care if he died as long as those women and children lived, and that made him the strongest man in the world.

In Swing Kids the main character overcame adversity by swing dancing even though it was strictly illegal and could get you sent to a work camp, the challenge he overcame was being a Hitler youth and hating it. Even as a Hitler Youth he still did swing dancing and he was arrested for it and sent to a work camp, when he was in the truck on his way to the work camp he stands up and yells “Swing Heil”. Which shows even in a very dark time in his life he still overcomes adversity.

I really like the Persian proverb that says “when it is dark you can see the stars.” To mean it means two things, one meaning is that when we are going through the worse times there is always some hope somewhere, even if it seems dim and far away. The other meaning is that during the worst times in history ordinary men and women can become heroes. We are finally able to see the compassion and the love that everyone including ourselves posses. In conflict and trials we find our most notable heroes.

In the graphic novel Persepolis we find a hero in the protagonist and author Marjane Satrapi as she has to live amid the religious upheaval of Iran in the seventies and the war between Iran and Iraq in the eighties. Even after escaping her homeland, Marjane has to survive in a strange country where she is called an Ausländer, foreigner. In Iran Marjane protests against the dictatorial Shah, or king, of Iran, even though people are stabbed, stoned, and shot at these rallies. After the take over of the country by the fundamentalist Muslims, Marjane keeps her independence by listening to American music and wearing American clothes, a crime that could be punishable by death. When Marjane finally gets out of Iran and into Austria, she survives for months on the street in the winter. Marjane got and education so that she could make something of herself. Finally, Marjane got a divorce from her husband, which in Iranian culture made her a sex object because she was no longer a virgin.

In Hotel Rwanda, a humble hotel manager becomes the savior of more than a thousand refugees, at the risk of his own life. The manager, named Paul Rusesabagina, gets caught in a civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples in the small country of Rwanda. Daily in the civil war people are shot in the street, houses are burned, and buildings are firebombed. Paul has to pull as many favors as he can from the white European tourists he has met to keep the hotel itself from being overrun by the Hutu army. Paul is faced with the task of keeping his Tutsi wife and Hutu and Tutsi neighbors from being killed, so he takes them to the only safe spot he knows, the hotel. Paul nearly loses his life trying to get food and water for his hotel guests by meeting with militant suppliers, the only ones with food and water. Finally Paul uses his wits to get his refugees evacuated to Tanzania, saving their lives.

In both of these periods of time ordinary people accomplished the extraordinary. A girl fought against a revolution and a hotel manager saved his neighbors and friends. When it gets dark, we really can see the stars.

Nick B.

Mark

The quote I picked is about Overcoming Adversity and Challenges and I picked it because it is part of the summit student creed. The quote is “We acquire the strength we have over come.” * Ralph Waldo Emerson. In Persepolis Marjane has to grow up and make her own choice or she could be killed. She also stands up for what she believes in and takes risks to speak out with she thinks. Sometimes you have to go against the rules to stand up for what is right for you or leave.

With Hotel Rwanda Paul over come a lot of challenges with being in touch with the some of the higher powers. He is able to get the French and some Belgium soldiers to come and get some of the people that are staying in the hotel the “Whites”. Then Paul tells everyone to call and tries to get help and the people that got help get passports. But on the way to leave the radio person is informed and told that the hotel is trying to get people out.

Swing Kids over come adversity with the power of the police being ignorant of not knowing the singers or people that sing swing music. The kids band together and join the bad side and learn how to not get caught.

Final- Adversity and Challenges

Watching Swing Kids it showed many challenges. The Nazi’s pressured and brainwashed people into joining the Nazi’s. In the movie there were many problems the boy faced like deciding whether to betray his handicapped friend, turn in the book store owner (ids for the Jewish people), and you can’t forget the woman who knew his father (who was Jewish also). He can’t hurt them because he has a heart and that’s why those challenges didn’t corrupt him. The ending he kept swinging, and ended up in a concentration camp, for the fight of freedom of all people (no matter there color or race they are).

Watching Hotel Rwanda there was many adversity and challenges, Paul started out this movie as a man who only cared about the welfare of his family, but changed to now protect his neighbors (refugees). The Hutu soldiers (or rebels) were after the Tutsi’s, there were no countries that were willing to protect them in the hotel, and also they were running out of food (supplies). Paul waited it out and got everyone to the refugee camps, he wasn’t going to let people kill his people. Thanks to the calls from the higher countries saved them many times also.

Reading the book Persepolis was an experience learning that Marji was just like me in a sense just from a different country. Marji faced many challenges from drug problems, suicide problems, war fighting (Iran), love problems, and just swallowing her pride and wear the vial. Marji faced all these challenges and adversities and got out of adolescents and fought back with little rebels actions and got through it. Although living under these conditions. Marji is a woman with will power and strength (rebelliousness), she’s tough.

Madeleine

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We acquire the strength we have overcome”. And I think that this applies for all three Persepolis, Swing Kids, and Hotel Rwanda. It applies to Persepolis by the fact that she has overcome so many things. Like the divorce, and moving to a different country leaving her parents behind. I mean she had to deal with making a whole new life, and then she was in a country that was in war when she was younger. She lived a very learn full life because she had to do a lot of independence starting at a young age. She had to learn a lot of social skills all on her own.

It ties into Swing Kids by the fact that four friends get split up because two go into Hitler youth and swing then the other two continue to just swing. And the two who join Hitler youth don’t stay as good of friends because one strongly believes everything that the Nazis tell them and the other disagrees with what the Nazis teach them. In the end one of the swing kids commits suicide. He learned right from wrong and he was not going to support wrong even if it meant death. The two in Hitler youth fought but realized that friendship is stronger than what was currently happening with the Hitler youth and the Nazis wanted from them. The two eventually split up one goes to a work camp, and the other goes and stays in the Hitler youth.

It ties into Hotel Rwanda by the fact that the hotel manager has to worry about hundreds of people. When the president died then the Hutu starting killing off the Tutsi. The managers’ whole family was Tutsi same with a lot of his neighbors. Then the hotel becomes a safe spot for them. In the end thousands of people died and over a thousand survived thanks to one man with some help of the rebels, and the U.N. The hotel manager learned that life is important to everyone. He also learned that in any situation good or bad he can always help out others.

James

My report is on heroes a Persian proverb says that “when its dark you can see the stars.” When I first joined mattew ‘s class I thought that the class was going to be super boring but it turned out pretty freaking cool. I really have had a lot fun and then we read this comic or a graphic novel called persepolis it was a really a touching novel. It was a bout this girl in Iran and about how her life was it was kind of weird to read but it grew on me ha ha. And then I read that quote “when its dark you can see the stars”.


Heroes I have hero his name is Jeremy Lusk he was a part of the metal mulisha.
He was just a small town kid just like my self and he made something of himself by just riding his dirt bike. The biggest reason for being my hero is because he came up from nothing and he used to just ride the track and just skip to the big double in the middle of the track. One more thing that I think why I liked him so much is that he just wasn’t as cocky as the rest he was way down to earth but had high dreams. He threw the biggest whip that everyone has seen ever .


On Febuary 10th my hero was crushed he was at the xgames in Puerto rico doing the backflip heartattack . He wrecked the bike landed on him and it broke his neck my dreams were crushed. But just like that quote it made me just want to ride harder and be just as good or better than he was. And that also puts me in the adversity and challenges quote also but now I am a better rider and that I am.

Jake

Final
Austin

The quote I am choosing is “We acquire the strength we have overcome” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I chose this quote because in order to learn and grow we have to overcome our challenges and learn from what we have done.

In Persepolis, Marjane started out being spoiled by her family in a nice place and having nice things. While she was growing up her country started to get attacked and her views began to change. Marjane Moved to Austria on her own and started learning who she is. She chose some wrongs and some rights. She tried being a nun, a punk, a druggy and lots more! While she was overcoming her challenges and learning who she is she grew older too. With time we can learn who we are by what we’ve done.

Marjane’s family and friends in Persepolis also contribute a huge part to who she becomes. Whenever Marjane was having problems she would think about her grandmother. Her grandmothers’ advice helped her to learn and understand things that were happening to her. When she was in the diner eating and all of the people were talking about her saying how she never says where she’s from and that her parents didn’t care she finally realized that she’s Iranian and there is nothing she could do about it. She was proud of that fact though.

The God character in the book that visits her at night is more just her thinking to herself in my opinion. God helped her solve her problems and learn new things by her past actions. She got mad at him once because He didn’t satisfy her questions, so he disappeared for a while until she began thinking about things again. The only one who understands what you need is usually you. You have to learn and grown from the failures and success’ in your life.

As I read the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson that says:”We acquire the strength we have overcome” it makes me think. What does this mean? The more I think about it the more clear it becomes to me. As we go through challenges in our life and overcome them we find a new greater strength among ourselves. Though times may be difficult they are well worth the reward.

In the comic book Persepolis we read about this girl that is growing up during a war. A war between her government, the people and another government. Though I don’t know from personal experience what it is like to live during a war that effects your everyday life I have found that through this womans words that I would definitely not like to have to go through those kind of difficulties. Though I would not want to live in such harsh situations they can prove to be good in a weird sense. When people face difficult moments in their life something inside them changes. People will go from average everyday people to heroes. So many people in this world that you would have never thought would do anything great have risen up to become great heroes. In the book 1984 an average unimportant citizen does great things. The main character Winston does the same thing everyday and doesn’t act against his communist government that he hates. Then a girl comes along and changes everything for him. She gives him the nudge he needed to start rebelling against the utopian government he lives under. After many struggles he helps start the beginning of a revolution.

We watched a movie that was previously unknown to me in English called Hotel Rowonda. The main character Paul was a manager at a very nice hotel. Had a family and an average life. Then war broke out and he being a father and husband did what any human being would do, he protected his family as well as he could. He was doing what he could to make sure his family was safe but was put as the leader of the hotel and felt a strong urge to protect not only his family but to keep safe and sheltered the war refugees. In the midst of blood and hatred this normal person rose up to think of some cleaver ways to trick the enemy and get the people at his hotel to safety. He protected over a thousand people in the end including his family. This proves that normal people can do anything if they just have the urge to. If the can dig deep and find the power to do amazing things it is completely possible.

When I think of Emerson’s quote I think of everyday people doing great things in their time of need. People can overcome any adversity and any challenge.

Alex

Heroes
by Dani

“When it is dark, you can see the sky.” This quote has a lot to do with the heroes that we know. Look at Superman and Spiderman for instance. We all love these fictional characters because they always conquer the bad guys.

We read a book called Persepolis, which was a graphic novel about a young girl named Marji, who over comes a lot of challenges that she has in her life. One of her heroes was her Uncle, who was sent to prison and then later killed because the government found out that he was a Russian Spy. Then she was sent to live with her family friends, who later on sent her to a boarding school. She went through many things here. She started doing drugs, got cheated on, and eventually ended up on the streets. When she went home the war was almost over and she was very happy. The governments made the females wear a veil, which made them hide their hair.

Later on we watched a movie called Swing Kids. It is about some boys who love to dance swing, but the government doesn’t allow swing music in their country anymore. For these boys it was a lot to go against the rules because you can get into a lot of trouble. One of the boys Thomas eventually ends up believing all of the things that the government is teaching them. He turns in his dad, goes against his best friend, and almost kills his best friend. I think the true hero in this film was the boy who stood up for everyone. He made sure that everyone was doing okay and he had fun while he was doing it. It took a lot of guts for him to see what was inside of the boxes. Inside the boxes were ashes of people who were killed.

On the last week of school, we watched a film called Hotel Rwanda. What I watched of this movie was really sad. People were getting killed because they were Tutsis or Hutus. This movie was about a man named Paul who was Hutu and his wife was Tutsi. He ended up saving all of these people who would have gotten killed. He gave everything he had to make sure his family was safe and it eventually paid off. He ended up saving about 800,000 people, with the help of his friends and the army. Now, in real life there is still the war going on only it is in Congo. I think it is very sad that nice people have to go through things. I think that the hero was Paul because he could have been killed, but he didn’t care because he wanted to save his family.

Heroes

In Persepolis Marji had a lot of heroes. One of those heroes was her uncle that died in prison. I have a hero and that is my grandpa. He has been there for me when I needed him and he has always tried to help me in the most difficult situations. When I was going to have to leave my house in Grantsville before I came to my program, he said to bring me to his house. He said that because he didn’t want to see me go to a foster home. When I was ever hurt, he was there for me. When I got an award, he was always there to see me get it.

Everyone has heroes and everyone can be a hero for someone else. In Hotel Rwanda Paul was a hero. He saved people because he didn’t want them to die. He saved his family and his friends. When he stayed back while his family went on the convoy, he said he wanted them to be safe and he didn’t want to leave his friends that have been with him, so he stayed and protected them until they could get them all out.

In Swing Kids the kids got in fights but they stayed with each other. When one kid was into trouble, they were all there to help each other out of it. They all had there heroes. One kid, his hero was his father because he was there to protect him from the Nazis. You need a hero. We have heroes because we see them as mentors, good examples. We want to be like them. I want to be like my grandpa because he is one of the people that help others like on Hotel Rwanda. He helps others because it’s the right thing to do. If I was sick at home he would be there to make sure that I got better. Ever since I was a little kid my grandpa was there when I was sick to help me get better because he would not do anything with out me by his side.

Tayler

Mark

The book we have been reading has made me think a lot about the war we are in and have been for years. The whole thing with the Middle East is starting to be over rated because of oil and all the stuff being said about the US being over there trying to help. Then we get notice we have to be out with in the end of June. I have enjoyed seeing Marji grow up it has been something I haven’t seen in any books I have read. I have learned more about living in Iran then I knew before we started reading the book. From this experience I would never want to be in the country where the war is happening and having to be scared to answer the phone and find out someone is died from bombs.

Persepolis
By Nick

At first I thought this “Graphic Novel” was going to be just another dumb book that Mathew was going to make us read and take tests about, but I learned to actually like it a lot. I believe that having pictures in your reading helps put the image in your head, from reading this book I feel like I really know the author well. You may think that even a graphic novel is childish because it has pictures, your wrong. It actually taught me a ton about Iran and the middle eastern countries and the hard times that Marji had to go through as a little kid. Another thing about graphic novels is that you have to be an artist, not just a writer. I believe that when the author draws pictures about what he or she is writing about it helps them get into the writing a lot more. I know when I am writing and I draw pictures with what I am writing, it helps me remember and think of stuff that I want to write about.

What I did not really like about this Graphic Novel is that it focused a little to much on the wars in Iran and those countries, I understand why she did focus on this topic a lot, because it was a big part of her life. But for me It was just confusing I didn’t like having to read all the names and stuff that was going on.

Persepolis

I really liked this book and I am glad we read it. I still don’t like the Understanding Comics book but I a starting to get why we are reading it. I really like the fact that Marjane doesn’t act like she was a perfect angel when she was young. She actually tells us her trials and how she tried to get over them. This is a really good book for us because we can relate to a lot of the things she does.

One thing that I don’t like is that she keeps repeating the same mistakes again and again. She is getting better but she knows what kind of things that hurt her and her family, but she still does them again. Another thing is that it kind of feels like she is seeking attention for the things she does. I know she has been through lots of trials, but it doesn’t help anyone if she sits around and mopes about it.

I would definitely recommend this book to others but they would need to read the whole thing through and not skip chapters. This book would be good for almost anyone to read because most people can relate to the experiences that Marjane has gone through. This is the best graphic novel I have ever read. I usually hate comic books but this is one exception. I really would recommend this book to anyone.

Aubri

I really liked the comic. I feel really bad for Marji. I think she is a very confussed girl. She was very younge when pollotics and crazy things were being thrown at her. She had to choice but to somewhat conform. I would hate tolive there! No games, parties, skin, fun, anything. I think that the reason why she turned into a drug attich and like changed her look was because she didn’t know what else to do. She was lost and confussed. I really liked reading this comic better than a normal book. I had pictures to refur to and it was a lot easyer to read. I felt like we didn’t have to read as much too. I really hate to read so this made the class a lot better. I thik that to live in a society like that would just completely blow. I would be confussed too because no one is really used to it and no one wants it. They find ways to go against “the man” which I think is so funny! I really liked the comic even though it was very sad and frustrating at times.

-Kesha

PERSEPOLIS
Rachel

I actually enjoyed reading this “graphic novel” more that I thought I would have. You shouldn’t even consider this a comic. It helped me see the world we DO live in rather than the world that I thought we lived in. It informed me about the different laws and traditions of other countries. But it also seemed a little sexist if we were talking about clothes. The women would have to wear drapes pretty much and not show a single part of their body other than their face, while men could wear clothing so tight that you could see everything.

I think that this book can really relate to kids in Foster Care. Marjane-the main character- is forced by her parents to move to Austria because of the war that is going on in Iran. In Austria she lives with old friends of her parents. She, like all other teenages, makes mistakes and is kicked out and has to find other places to live, but messes up that living situation. So she leaves to another home. That is totally like Foster Care if you think about it. Kids in the system mess up so they either go to another home or DT. She spends about 3 months living on the streets and then after she caught her boyfriend cheating on her she returns home. It’s her 18th birthday and she was finally an adult. The age that you leave care is normally 18 also.

I would definitely recommend reading this book. I guarantee that it will make you value the people that love and support you in all that you do just that much more.

Persepolis
By: James

This is a good book though it is a comic book and says a few occasional swear words. I think it’s a good book because of the fact it gives you a new look at the Middle East. I mean we all have our own issues. There they have terrorists, and her we have an eating problem. We’re all human and some normal, most not. See this book has shown me that they go through some similar issues we have to go through. They’re forced to do certain things, and if they don’t do them then they get treated horribly especially the women, sometimes guys. I would recommend this book for other schools for either English class or history class because I think it will give a lot of people a new perspective on the Middle East.

Persepolis
By: Dani

My thoughts on the book are that I think this book is way different than most books that I have read. I like how honest the book is.

It shows a little girl trying to live in freedom and be happy. I like how the main character Marjane is trying to change the way she lives from Australia and Iran. She went through some hard things and some examples are drugs, being homeless, and having no one.

This book can relate to me in so many ways. I had an overcoming experience with drugs and I was a very heavy smoker. I also have not had family in my life for a while. My family is dead to me and has been for a little over a year now.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great book. It shows a lot of history in the book also.

In the end I have many thoughts how it is going to end, one of them being that Marjane will die or she could live a happy life.

My thoughts and feelings about Persepolis are that the book is a really great book. I really like it and I would recommend others to read this book. This book is pretty graphic but not too graphic. It has a lot of swearing in it and it has a part in it where it shows a guard peeing on a prisoner and it shows some things. If you don’t like those things in a book then I wouldn’t read it.

What I like about the book is that it talks a lot about the war between Iran and Iraq. I love wars and I get interested when people get tortured. I don’t know why but it interests me to see things like that.

What I dislike about the book is all of the swearing in it. Swearing doesn’t make a book good. In my opinion it makes it so you don’t want to read the book. When there are sexual things in a book I don’t really like to read it because I don’t like reading about stuff like that. When you read a book that has things in it that you don’t like then you don’t get interested in the book. That’s the same way with me. When I read a book that has things in it that I don’t like, I don’t get interested in the book anymore.

The value and meaning of the book is that the girl Marji goes through all of these rough times through the war, going to her friends, friends dying, moving away from friends and losing people that she loves. Marji loses an uncle that was her hero and a boyfriend that cheated on her. I would recommend the book to others because I believe that it has a lot of great meanings in the book.

In the end of the book I believe that Marji’s parents are going to die because of old age or someone comes and kills them. I believe that something is going to happen that she doesn’t like.

Tayler

I think Persepolis is one of the best books I have read in an English class. Persepolis is so endearing to me because it fits so well into what I am learning about now. I did a report of Nazism and its beliefs and attitudes. But looking at the web pages of names, dates, and German words loses some of its meaning. Persepolis is more personal and written in a style that is simple enough to read, but deep enough to remember. Along with Persepolis is 1984 that we just finished reading. The only problem with 1984 is that it is fiction, and is extreme. So extreme that it is somewhat hard to empathize with its protagonist Winston Smith. Persepolis is nonfiction. Its descriptions of “the Guardians of the Revolution” the meetings, and the television shows seem much more real that 1984 or the book We, by Yevgeny Zamyatin, where the main character loves the totalitarian government.

Persepolis has showed me that “comic” books can be more than just the “Incredible Hulk” or “Garfield”. I never really thought that this genre could be so meaningful. Persepolis combines simple meaningful art and endearing characters to display the struggles of a real totalitarian regime.

Nick B.

My Summer



My summers are always kind of exciting but at the same time I hate them because every summer I work everyday so I can pay not only my own bills but some of my parents. Last year during summer I worked doing construction almost everyday so that I could buy a dirt bike. But I had a problem I couldn’t hold on to my money because of my addiction. Now I think that I was stupid for it but then I thought I was invincible and had loads of money but I thought wrong it was the stupidest thing I could have possibly done. But then one day I thought ill just take a certain amount of my paycheck every week and maybe I could get enough money for a new dirt bike. So I just kept saving and saving until I had about 4,000 dollars cash and I went out and chose what bike I wanted it was a KTM 450 it is my baby and my first really big bike. I was amazed when I first went and looked at it I had never really been sure of anything before but then I got on the seat of the bike and started and I fell in love ha ha but its true. I turned to the man who I was buying the bike from and said absolutely ill take it and that was the end of that it was crazy fast and I had never ridden anything like it before. Now I know that I’m getting to fast for it but at the time I was dumb founded at it (probably because I had only had a Suzuki rm 125) and I thought that was fast at the time. I was racing in the 125s class but then I immediately jumped to a 450 it was a big difference but im a speed freak and when I got on that bike I knew it was for me. The first day I bought I topped it out and I think it was some were around 110 or 115 mphs I loved it and it was just amazing. It was the only thing better than my addiction and I loved it . but then the worst possible thing happened to me. I was racing my cousin in Wyoming around this endurance track and I hit this huge natural double and my bike stalled in air. I started to freak out, my nose end started to drop and I thought I was going over. I was scared but I just pulled up as hard as I could and barley landed I was pissed and I looked down and my boot was covered with oil. The guy I bought it from had loosened the crank shaft bolt and that’s something you should never do so they came out went down in my engine and shot out of my case. 1500 dollars later I had my bike back and I was happy but all of the money came out of my pocket so I was broke but at least I had my bike.

Jake

Summer
By Nick

The best part about summer for me is no school! I get to relax and do whatever I feel like doing, no having to wake up early and freeze my butt off to get on the bus to come to this place. This summer the only thing I really have planned is a lot of fishing, camping, swimming and hanging out with my friends. Even though we only go to school for 180 days it seems like it takes up all of our year so when summer comes it flies by so fast it’s ridiculous. To begin my summer I am going to bear lake with my family. I heard the lake is freezing this early in the year so I don’t think I will be doing much swimming there unless the place were staying at has a pool. The next big thing I am going to be doing is going down to Burston ponds down in Mona, This place is really neat, it has a rope swing and some other places to jump into the water off of. I am hoping to go camping as much as possible this summer but the only time I really have planned is my birthday in July. Me and my brothers and some friends are going to go down to a place called lonesome pine, its down south by Eureka, I am hoping it all works out.

Trek

“When it’s dark enough, you can see the stars”, this quote brings me back to our programs monthly trek. Trek is usually a week long experience. It’s a requirement to get out of the focus program, to graduate; it’s at least a month to move up each level.

You have no idea how hard trek is, unless you’ve been to the boys ranch journey program. While packing our heavy packs (which include our clothes, food, and sleeping bags), we also have to push a cart that contains an emergency pack, and also emergency water. It’s a trail made up of dirt and rocks, mostly up hill. All I can say is that it’s a difficult challenge. I honestly remember thinking that trek was going to be a camping experience. When getting out of the van and putting on my poncho and stepping into the mud was terrible. Feeling the wind was the worse, feeling the rain hit your cold face was I guess one thing I never want to experience.

The night before trek was going to be over; we all went to experience the stars of the night. It made me feel curious; like what is really out there? Being away from all population will do that to you I guess. I wanted to stay longer after that, it’s weird how nature does that.

Madeleine

Stuff I Think

I feel like writing a list of swear words because I’m going to be 18 on the 12th of June, and I will still be in the group home. Fun shizz man. Brain washing is something I like to say as of late. Being in the program I brainwash myself so I can be a better person and get out that place asap. I have been encouraged to change by every one in some way or another and I get a small thought that “I’m not good enough to be here?” I have been told that people miss the old me and I think that I was funny but that is about all I saw that has changed. I need to get down and work every second tell I get back my freedoms. The revolution is going to happen here and it may have already started in some places. I believe that when people are upset with something and can’t change it the normal way then you rebel and make it change or die trying to do so.

Mark

Books

I love books. Reading is something you can do anytime and anywhere, though I would have to say not in class because I know the teachers don’t appreciate it, trust me on this. There are so many different genres of books out there. I know a lot of people hate reading, but it is one of my favorite things to do. I t is kind of like an escape for me because if I can go to another world, and to a different set of problems, I can kind of forget mine.

Most people get irritated because I read more than I pay attention to what they are talking about. When people ask me what I want to be when I get older, I can’t just say “a reader”, unless I want to be a critic or something. I would like to read all through my young years because I know I am not going to be able to read as much when I am in college, at least not the books I would like to read.

This upcoming week I have a challenge to read only two hours a day, not counting the work for school. It is going to be hard but I think I can do it. It starts today, May 15, and ends next Friday on the 23rd. So far I haven’t read anything. I started an hour and a half ago and I already want to read endlessly. I can tell this is going to be a very challenging week.

Aubri

To be, or not to be? The question that goes through my head as often as the sun rises. Since I was a little kid, I was always trying to find out what I want to do with my life. I know it seems a little bizarre for a kid to be thinking about those kinds of things, especially as much as I did but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that my family all grew up to be pathetic wash ups. There are only a few people in my family that actually did something worth while in their life. Ever since I was a child, I promised myself that I would be one of the people to make something out of myself. When I grow up, I will do something amazing with my life.

At such a young age, it’s hard to know what you want to do with your life and so I eventually just put it out of mind and tried to just live life and have fun. I made some really stupid decisions and made parts of my life harder than needed to be but I do not regret it. I have learned so much from my mistakes and am so thankful for the lessons that I have learned because of my dumb decisions. Now if I could’ve learned those lessons without having to make those decisions, I would definitely do that but since that’s not what happened than why stress over it. Throughout my whole life just like everyone else in this world, I have had to make tough decisions a ton. I have had to choose between what I know is right and what is fun. To be a grown up with responsibility or not to be. Well at the time I chose not to be and had a lot of fun but then I learned that you don’t just have to be a mature responsible person especially when you’re a teenager. You can have fun and at the same time do what you know is right and be responsible. I found that when I am doing what’s right and keeping my responsibilities all at once I am much happier. I don’t have to worry about being in trouble and can just relax and have fun. I think I am finally learning how to go about this whole grown up thing.

Now I have been confronted by one of the toughest decisions of my life. What to do with my life, how to pay for college. I have been thinking about and stressing a little over these decisions and have come up with a conclusion. Ever since I was a kid I thought that the military was one of the coolest things ever. I have always thought that the marines are the best. Now I have made my final decision. I know this guy who is in the army and can hook me up with good advice and more money than usual, so I have decided to go into basic training for the army this summer. I’ve made the phone call and now all I have to do is prepare mentally and physically for basic training. My whole summer will be the army which kind of sucks because it’s my last summer before my senior year so I wanted to go crazy and have as much fun as possible before I graduate but I think it is much more important that I be preparing for my future. I will leave this summer and then I will come back for my senior year. I’ll finish up my high school career and then go into the National Guard for at least two years. This was a really hard decision because this is my life for the next two and a half years but I think it’s really good and won’t be as bad as I thought because I will be going to college, possibly working, and be in the national guard all at the same time after I graduate. I think my future is actually looking really bright.

Depression

Have you ever felt that life was to hard, or maybe that you couldn’t handle everything that’s showed up in your life? Well you’re not alone; I’ve felt this way plenty of times. It’s hard to deal with I agree, but that is the time where it is important not to give up. See I have a problem with depression I know how it works and what it feels like which is why I do not think it is something to joke about. It can lead people into addictions such as drugs, alcohol, self-harm, or worse suicide. When people joke about suicide and/or depression I believe it gives me a pretty good reason to get upset. I’ve had people around me attempt suicide and I myself have attempted suicide several different times. Let me share an attempt with you just so you get an idea of how scary it is.
Here I am taking a time-out and it seems everyone is mad at me and that my life is crumbling down. I thought that I had finally hit rock bottom and that I would never get out of this hole I was in. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to off myself but I thought it had to be done if I could never be good at anything. Then I saw my belt just lying there on the floor, and it hit me I’m going to choke myself out with my belt. I mean nobody is around to stop me. So I put the belt around neck pulling it tighter and tighter. I start to have a hard time breathing thinking to myself “this is it”. But just then my belt got caught as I start to panic. I start to see black. After about 30 seconds to a minute my belt loosened up. I breathe terribly fast trying to get back to my normal self. I didn’t tell anyone for 2 months.
This incident was this past year. It was the closest I had ever come to death. It was this scariest thing I’ve ever gone through. For this reason I think that suicide and depression is never funny and should not be messed with…

james

Clear Creek
Rachel

I missed some journals when I was at clear creek, so I’m going to write about some stuff that happened while I was there. The first night is never fun. I remembered that from last year. We ended the day with a 3 _ hour blind hike. It was the worst thing mentally that I’d done in a long time. The separated out group and placed us by various trees. A voice told me to sit down and to stay. I was alone in the woods. I was so freaking scared out of my mind. I hate being alone in the dark. If you read about my worst fear you’d understand why. I sat there and started thinking about home, my parents, and my life. I lifted my blindfold to peek out to see where exactly where I was. I looked around at the trees, the depth of the woods and the darkness. I listen to people screaming out to be found by our group leader at the time. He is still far away from me. I almost started crying. Then as time passes, it feels like hours. I put my hood on because I was cold and lay my head on my knees. I started drifting off. I thought I had fallen asleep! Oh no. Was I really lost? Have they been searching for me? A million thoughts race through my mind. About 15 seconds later, “Here I am!” a big wave of relief came over me. I’m still being looked for. In the end, they never found me. I was told to follow a voice. It lead me back to my family. While there, we processed the communication and connection we were lacking. It was a good experience, but it didn’t help me at all with my fear of the dark.

The saying “when it is dark enough, you can see the stars” reminds me of the expression “the coldest hour is the one that comes just before the dawn.” I can see the application of this kind of wisdom in the group home. I am going through a lot more right now than I have previously had to face, such as taking a polygraph (lie detector) on Monday, meeting with the families of the people I have hurt, and having to again confess to the police. It really does seem impossible to be able to make it through, but I’ve talked to the police, and I have taken a polygraph before, and I have my letters for the families. Gradually I’m transitioning home and God willing I will graduate.

I want to be out soon after June 6th, D-Day, the day I came into the program. At ten thirty I came to the group home that overcast morning. My life has soon since changed in many dramatic and subtle ways. So when it gets dark, I’ll try to look up to see the stars, those bodies which have directed sailors and warriors for as long as we have chosen to look up.

Nick B.

So, we had a proverb on the board in class and it got me thinking about a lot of things. The proverb stated, “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” This made me think about Thanksgiving. That was one of the coolest days that has every happened. I found a really cool star that eventually I want to buy from the star registry because it has a lot of meaning. The girl that I like showed me the star on Thanksgiving and it was really cute, so on some nights when I’m down I go and look at that star to make myself feel better and it does. I have a good cry and then I’m good again.

I gave her a plane that said Hawaii on it a few weeks ago and I did that because it is a promise that I made to her. I told her that I would take her to Hawaii and make her happy. It looked like she was happy when I gave it to her.

We haven’t talked since that day and that makes me sad. I can’t wait till we do though. I think about it all the time and I hope she does too.

She has my fox hat and I wish I could have it back. If she calls me anytime I am going to go get it because my fox hat is my baby.

Dani

I hope that I level up in my program. I have worked hard these last few months and I am going to work hard to be able to advance. I need to work on a few little issues and if I get those issues worked on then I should level up. I want to be a leader in my program and help others. I need to work on my empathy a little. I have been making client of the week for two weeks in a row and I am trying hard to be able to advance. So I really hope that I advance. When I do advance, I will be on phase 6 in my program which is the last phase in the program. When I get on phase 6, there will be three of us on it.

Last weekend when I went on a home visit with my mom, we went and saw the wolverine movie. I thought that was a kick butt movie. I really liked it. It had Scott (Cyclops) as a little kid and it had Storm in it as a little kid as well. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know that was in it. Like I didn’t know that Sabortooth and Wolverine were brothers. I didn’t know about some of the characters that were in it as well. But I really liked it and I really want to go and see it again. When I go on a home visit with my grandpa, we will probably go and see it because he wants to go and see it.

Tayler

The worst thing in the world

If someone were to lock me in a room with my worst fear, it would have to be spiders. Just the thought of them crawling over my face makes me want to throw up. They have these disgusting long hairy legs and they could chew your face off. It is so gross! Every time I see a spider I freeze up and can’t move, not even to run away. Some people think they are really cute pets but I can’t stand them.

If I was locked in a room with them, I would sooner kill myself than let someone put that cages over my head. They would probably chew my eyes out no matter how hard I squeezed them shut. It would crawl towards my mouth an there would be nothing I could do to stop them. Every time I even think about them I shut down and can’t think of what would be the best thing to do in a worst scenario.

Most people would probably say getting locked up but for me it is spiders. My little brother absolutely loves them and I don’t know how he can pick them up and touch them with his hands. It disgusts me because then he uses those hands to eat and stuff and it totally creeps me out. That would be my worst fear in the entire world. I would scream and thrash and do anything to get them as far from me as possible. Anything.

Aubri

Overcoming Adversity and Challenges

RORY
So this for me is a good time to talk about this I recently just went to Clear Creek and really learned a lot about others and even myself. So our first day Doug says this is our family we need a name and chant and so we got together and couldn’t think of anything. We went through our day just like normal being kind of selfish and only thinking bout ourselves and not the tasks that lay ahead. We did many things and that day we never really connected and it really bugged me because we had a group of pure genius and love. So that night I really didn’t sleep because I wanted to know what we were missing it ate at me and so I thought and thought. I woke the next hour or later to my boy Antonio saying hey lets go I roll over and we wake a few the guys who want to come and we hike the biggest mountain in front of us. It hits me when we were on the top that we were missing compassion we only looked at the actual task not the marrow meaning. So after breakfast we all got together and I went around and told everyone what I saw and I think that opened us up and we got together and conquered the whole day. There it was we were the BEARCATS uh son what you know bout that? The rest of the time we were the BEARCATS no one could stop us. We got everything done with flying colors and other thing that few the guys and girls learned was to back flip and this takes lots of guts you have to trust others and yourself. So the first time I jumped back and than I just went for it and I did it uh son. After that the girls were like oh we can do this and sure enough we all started doing it. We all overcame our fear of trust and falling.
BEARCAT WRECKING BALL WE THE BEST WE NEVER FALL LIFE LINE TO THE WALL WE CAN DO IT ALL!!!! GO BEARCATS DOWN WITH BTBC!!

I have over come some big challenges in the last year and even more in the last three months. Some tasks where advancing in my program and being 100% honest with all my actions. I have got a level drop and next week it will be, as if it never happened because I will have earned it back. When the crap hits the fan, you can start to learn right away and know what to not do the next time. Not doing something to get in trouble for that you can get caught for.

I have also stopped all my meds and been off them for about a week and my sleep med for two in a half weeks. Almost every time meds are done, I get called and I tell the staff I don’t take meds and for a minute they think I’m lying but I really have. When I have told people they are really happy and proud of me for being able to do this because not a lot of kids can and be ok. That is but the tip of things I have done.

Mark

Adversity and Challenges

I have overcome so many things, even though I’m in a rehab program. I’m a recovering meth and cocaine addict. I defiantly have an addictive personality; I have many addictions though. I have something that beats any of these addictions though; I have potential, personality, and will power. I mean drugs got me through my whole teenage years, but really reality has surprised me many times, especially being put in JJS custody. These last charges I got defiantly was a reality check, I can’t keep running anymore. I thought by lying and manipulating my probation officer and therapist that I would somehow get out of my situation, but by continuing my drug use and rebelling against the system got me further in. It’s just such a challenge everyday facing my peers, because I still want to use, in a way I wish I could go back just because it was so much easier to get high and forget what troubles I was facing. I have found some motivations though; to be positive, look forward to my home visits, and the future that awaits me (being a nurse).

I take this drug problem one step at a time, it’s not like I could overcome these addictions in one day, and the cravings are so great, it’s as it sounds, drug, it has drug me down to the point that I would of traded my soul for it. The high always got me though my day, without it I had to find my support systems, my poor daddy, I talked to him Wednesday night, I just wish I would have tried harder back at home. I cry and pray to god that I can overcome this, I can’t by myself though, and I need my family. The focus program has taught me many things, that I need a higher power to overcome these things, I see love as one of my biggest higher powers. Honestly though if I could go back and change anything, I wouldn’t, because I’m fine with who’ve I become. Everything happens for a reason, I mean I’m glad I got my DUI in a way, I would of never come to a rehab program and face my issues. I always though I never had a problem, until I got put into JJS custody.

Madeleine

Adversity and challenges



I think that I have overcome quite a few challenges but at the same time I have a lot to go. For example healing from my dirt bike accident I have just barely started to race again. It is sometimes very hard to overcome some of your personal challenges like for me it was to get back on my dirt bike and start to race again but I am and I am even happier that I am. One of the quotes that we got in English yesterday was “the robbed who smile steal something from the thief”. I started to think about what that meant and it got to me. I was sitting at my kitchen table pondering what that meant and I realized not just what it meant by saying that but the meaning. Because how I go about life is if someone steals from me they must need it more than I do.

Then I realized that by living the way that I see life is to do exactly what that quote says by smiling at anything and everything that happens good or bad then your life is always just a little bit better than it was before. Like for example, I was just chilling doing my own thing out on the street down by my house when I saw one of the people that I really don’t like. He was riding his bmx bike and he called me some names. I just blew it off like what ever and then he tried to show of to these girls that I was chilling with and he totally ate it hard and my first reaction was to laugh at him and just turn around and keep walking. But remembering that quote I went and walked over and asked if he was alright and helped him up and he was almost dumb founded that I would do that for him. It was just like that quote he hasn’t even tried to call me names or pick fight with me any more just because I did that for him I came out of that experience with a new friend and a better attitude and that is one of my harder challenges.

Jake

Challenges
Nick

A challenge to me is something that is going to take a lot of work and dedication to overcome or do. An example of a challenge could be two people in a foot race through the woods, one is faster then the other, so if the slower one has a challenge if he wants to win he is going to have to push himself to the limits to beat the other guy. That is one example of a challenge. Challenges aren’t just physical they can be mental, emotional, and spiritual. There are challenges in everything.

The biggest challenge I have had to overcome lately is school. The biggest trouble for me is homework and studying, It is really hard for me to go to school for six hours and then go home to another two hours of studying and homework. When I get home I want to relax and do my own thing, not have to do more school work. But I have learned that sometimes in life you have to do stuff you don’t want to even if it doesn’t pay off right then, it will in the future. It took me a long time to realize this, too long. If I had learned this concept earlier in life, I would be better off in school and would not be struggling to get credits as much as I am now. One challenge that I believe everyone has is life, it is just one huge challenge that we can not escape.

Adversity and Challenges
Kesha

I have gone threw quite a few adversities and challenges in my life. It all started when I was born. My mom was 15 and my dad was 17. That was their first problem. Then to top that off they were both drug addicts, alcoholics and porn addicts. They partied every day and night leaving me without a bedroom or any normal air for my little lungs to breath. I would bang on my beaten up room door in my little old, dirty, footy pajama’s crying while on the other side where crazy people having sex in my bed. So I would just lie on the ground and fall asleep. That happened for about 3 years until my dad cheated on my mom and that ended that.

My mom and I went to live with some family while my dad went to “find him self”. He never found himself. He came around about 3 or 4 times a year and sent a card on my birthday. My mom got re-married and I thought life was great. I was 5 years old when they got married and we lived in a little trailer. I was so excited to be in a normal family. His name is Andy and he has a son named Dairien, we all had so much fun together. Then reality kicked in as I push my pillow against my head trying to block out my mom screaming in pleasure and the trailer rocking back and forth. I scream out for someone, anyone to come take me away! My mom runs in naked and just laughs at me, so much for my normal life. The next morning I wake up and tease my brother, he cries and tattles. The next thing I know one of my Barbies are being hit across my head.

I remember this one time when my biological dad came to the trailer and tried beating my step dad because he thought I was being sexually abused. It was horrible seeing my step dad try to beat my dad with a hammer.

My mom is a raging alcoholic and abuses prescription pills. My mom and Andy split up when I was 13 and I had to find a place for us to live or we would be homeless. My mom was at her worse point, I thought, her falling asleep in her food and pretty much being dead. Then she met Tom. He is a horrible person who beats my mom and takes her medicine. That’s saying it lightly, he is evil. She left me on the streets to fin for myself for him. Where was my dad? Where was anyone? Is anyone there? I didn’t think so. I stopped going to school and relied on friends and boys for everything. I got put into foster care and locked up all because of my parents. It sucks how people’s actions affect us sometimes. I live with my aunt and uncle now and going threw though times but we can all make it threw though times! Everyone can make it threw the hard times! Thank you everyone who has helped me be the person I am today, that includes summit!

Adversity and challenges

When I was little and anyone asked me what challenges I was trying to overcome, I would have said the monkey bars and to finish the book that I was reading. Now, when I think about the challenges that I want to overcome, I know that there are more important things. There are many that I want to overcome but I know which ones that I need to work on more often. There are goals that I have accomplished that were hard and some that were easy. One that I have accomplished that was hard was to get the credit that I needed to make up for my first year at high school.

There are still many that I need to overcome such as getting through high school with good grades so that I can go to the college of my choice, figure out what kind of career that I want to spend my life doing, and to get through the system, therapy, and adoption successfully. Right now I am working on all of them.

Then I have to think about all the adversity that I have, and have yet to, overcome. I have overcome the problem with my mom by accepting what she has done, and that she never wants to see me again, but I still need to understand why. I need to overcome the fact that I might never see her again and I won’t be allowed into her funeral, though my four siblings will be able to. Everyone has things to overcome but the biggest thing is acceptance. You may not know why the person feels but your confusion is not going to make that person change his or her mind. I would like to overcome all of my goals in one day but it takes time and it will be worth it when they are all accomplished.

Aubri

How do people grow up? How do people mature? Through my life even though it has only been a rather short one I have found that people grow and mature from their adversities and challenges. As we go through hard times, we figure out things that are essential for life. It’s weird to think that by going to hell you can come out a better person than before. This week as we were at clear creek I told Doug that if I could’ve picked anyone to be my father I would’ve picked him. With the help of Jennie I realized that because of the fact that my dad was never around and I can only remember about three times that I actually saw him. It has helped me greatly in life.

Also even though my mom hurt and crushed me constantly, that also was a great blessing in my life. When I was little, my dad never cared enough about me or my mom to stick around. He is always in jail and so is my mom. He tried a couple of times to see me but my grandma wouldn’t let him because she knew how dangerous he is. My dad is a very abusive and mean person. If he wouldn’t have been in jail while my mom was pregnant with me, I would either be dead or retarded. When I was a little kid and my grandma told me how my father is, I hated him even more. I promised myself that I would never ever hit a girl because that is one of the lowest most pathetic things you can do. When you grow up without a father it hurts. It hurts to know that your dad is a pathetic wash up and doesn’t give a crap about you. That he would rather be off doing whatever it is he does rather than being with his own son. Rather than being with his own blood. Its not just him though it’s my mom too. It think that hurt the most because she would come around from time to time and seeing her brought so much joy and hope, then she would leave and I would be crushed. My mother would rather be doing drugs and having sex than watch me grow up. It sucks so bad not having parents around especially when they have the choice to be or not. I remember lying in bed crying myself to sleep praying to God that my family would come together and wishing that my mom and dad would just be there to love me. I wish I would’ve been more important than drugs.

Going through these hard times ever since I can remember has made me who I am today. I’m not saying I’m anything special because I’m not. I’m no better than the next person but I have learned so much. I have learned that you always need to have your guard up and you need to really learn how to read people. I’ve learned to love as much as you possibly can because you never know when it’ll be gone. I’ve learned how to overcome adversity and challenges and I’ve learned that you can’t just leave it up to other people to figure it out on their own because everyone needs help and love. Through my struggles I’ve made two major promises in my life. To never hurt a girl and the most important in my life: to always be there for my family. No matter what is going on in my life, no matter what struggles I’m going through I will always be there to love and take care of my family. My friends and my family are the most important things in my life and I will never let another human being down. I will not walk down the same road my parents did and I will always try to make other people feel how loved and special they really are. I never want anyone to feel the pain that I have felt. I never want to be the cause for someone to cry themselves asleep, especially if it’s something so easily preventable. I will try my hardest to help someone else to the top.

Alex

Adversity and Challenges

I agree and disagree with Winston Churchill when he said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. I disagree with it because life has been hell for me, and I’ve kept on going and yet it is still hell for me. It may be a different hell, but still hell. So when people say that this quote has some special symbolic meaning I tend to disagree because to me it’s common sense, it’s natural, it’s survival… because I could simply give up shrivel up and die but that just isn’t an option for me. However, I agree with Winston Churchill in the fact that once you’ve reached the point of giving up the only thing you can do is move on.

I bet you’re asking yourself “if he is going through hell how has he made it this far in life?” It’s because I have family and friends who lift me up when I need them the most and even when I don’t treat them the best I still get treated like a king. I love my family and friends. My family is not close to the best, but what family is perfect? My friends at least here at Summit consist of Rory, Kesha, Rachel, Alex, and plenty of others including teachers. These are the people I trust and people that I truly care for because they help me, support me, and treat me with the love of a friend. I appreciate all they do for me and someday I will have to repay the favor.

James

The first quote by Churchill, “If you’re going through hell, keep going,” is one of my favorites. I love it because it applies so well to my life. It gives me inspiration and strength to get through want I have to face. Whether that is a level drop, being in a program, or coping with depression, this quote has helped me through, especially since I have been in the group home. It makes my consequences seem less eternal, and my suffering less complete. I first read this quote while playing Call of Duty 2. When you are killed in the game the screen goes black and a quote pops up, this was one of the better ones.

The second quote reminds me of a story my mom told me about her junior high experience. Somebody called her a bitch and she turned and, with a smile, said “gee, I really am a bitch, thank you!” and walked off leaving the kid stunned. I think the Othello quote “The robb’d that smiles steals something from the thief” really applies to life.

Finally the Emerson quote “we acquired the strength we have overcome” reminds me of the saying “whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” We have to go through trials to perfect ourselves “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” so that we can get stronger. It’s like in therapy when one gets close to a relapse. The best way to get out of that situation is to learn from it and grow.

Nick B.

So, the first quote means to me that even if life is hard, then you need to just keep going and hopefully things will get better. The second quote means that a thief doesn’t get stolen from because he doesn’t care and the people who he steals from gets hurt because they are scared of what could happen next. The last quote means that you get stronger as you overcome the challenges that you have, if you can get over them and learn from them. They relate to overcoming adversity because you always want to try again even if the challenge is hard and you don’t think you can get through what you are overcoming. The quotes relate to Swing Kids because they are trying to live their lives, but the Nazi’s don’t approve of them swinging. The Nazis want to brainwash you and make you turn against the people that you love the most, but you can’t see it because sometimes once you begin, you can never go back unless you are told that something is wrong with you.

They relate to my life because it’s really hard for me to get over my challenges because I hold grudges, so it makes it hard to want to work it out with other people who are near me. How I overcome challenges is eventually I will go to the person and talk it out with them, even if I don’t want to really do that.

Dani

The first quote “if you’re going through hell, keep going” means that if you’re in a place that is strict or a place you don’t want do be, then you don’t like it. My group home is an example of that. I don’t want to be there and it’s a place that has rules that you need to follow. I also listen to a song called if you’re going through hell. It says that if your going through hell to keep on going and don’t slow down. That means if you’re in a program, to not give up. If you give up, you will just be in a place that’s worse.

How that quote relates to overcoming adversity is by going through obstacles. I go through a lot of obstacles in my group home and it helps me get through rough times. When I go through rough times, I feel like I’m in hell. I feel like I want to give up but I don’t because I don’t want to be somewhere worse.

The quotes relate to Swing Kids is by the Germens have to go to the HJ when they don’t want to. They have to go to a place that is strict and they have to go through all of these different rules. The movie talks about the Nazis are taking control of Germany and they are forcing people to love them. The movie is in the holocaust time and some of the kids want to swing but the rules are getting put down to where they can’t and that they have to listen to the Germen music when they don’t want to.

Tayler

For me overcoming adversity and challenges has been the hardest thing for me, no matter what the challenge may be. I don’t want to get way personal on paper because that’s just not me at all. But right now my biggest challenge has nothing to do with my program or school; it’s with my girlfriend back home. She is having a way tough time back there, and it’s driving me crazy that I can’t help her like I used to be able to.

Another big challenge of mine is school. I’m afraid that when I go back home I won’t be able to stay focused in school, no matter how motivated I am to graduate. And having to say goodbye to all the friends I have made up here is also going to be hard but I know that they care about me and want me to do good, so I know I have their support. I think even if I go home and have slip ups, I’ll still be able to succeed in life, I won’t let myself become a dropout and a screw up just because I messed up once when I go home. I know I will struggle with all these challenges in my life but I also know that I can overcome all of them. It may take sometime but I know it’s possible. I have a lot of friends and family supporting me in my decisions, and I know as long as I make good choices I will always of their support and love to help me through anything life throws at me.

Zach

Adversity and Challenges
Rachel

We got a list of quotes in English about overcoming the challenges that you’re going through in life. One of the quotes was “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” This was personally my favorite quote. It’s saying that when you’re going through something that’s really difficult, you can not give up. There’s no way that things are going to ever get better for you if you just give in. You’ll stay in hell forever if you don’t try to get out of it and overcome the challenge.
The second quote was “The robbed that smiles, steals from the thief.” If someone is trying to make you mad, sad, or just irritate you, and you can just shrug is off and smile, to not let them get to you. They will be robbed because they are failing at the one thing they’re trying to do.
Both of these quotes relate to my life. My life seems like hell almost every single day. If I was to give up, my life would be over. I couldn’t handle all of the stress if I really took the time to look at it all.
I always look to other people that I look up to when I need to overcome a larger challenge that I can’t seem to get through by myself. Others can help me see what I need to do to get out of the predicament and to see the larger view and a different perspective of the issue. I’m thankful for everyone that’s there to help me. I know I couldn’t do all the things I have without the help of others. Being independent isn’t always easy or fun.

Matrix talent

If I could have any talent it would be able to fly because I love to be in the sky. I love to be in the air because if feels good. When I’m up in the clouds I can see all of the cars and they look like ants. When I am in the sky I want to stay up there because I feel higher than everyone. I would also want it to be able to fly anywhere I wanted. I could fly to my family’s house whenever and I could fly to all of the different places.

Another talent I would have would be able to turn invisible because so I can hide from people when they’re trying to find me. I would also use it to scare people by making just my head visible and lying on the ground so people think that my head has been cut off. I would also use it to sneak away from places I don’t want to be.

The talent that I would love to have is having super strength so I can pick up anything. I would pick up houses, buildings, and I would be able to punch through anything. I would mainly use my talent to help my Grandpa with yard work and to haul hay with him. I love to haul hay and I would help him load the hay on the trailer because I don’t want him hurting himself.


Tayler

Narrative: Final

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I glance over and see its 6:30 I sluggishly drag myself out of bed “it’s too early”. I walk to the shower and turn on the shiny silver handles and I close the curtain a sensation of warm water overtakes my body. I say to myself “today is going to be a good day”. I hop out and get dressed I throw on my black SLIPKNOT shirt and put on my black pants and slide right into my size 13 black ADIO’s. My mom says “let’s go you have to go early today because I have to go in early the rest of this week”. So we go out the door I jump in the silver Grand Prix labeled Yankees. As we drive to my school I couldn’t wait to see the girl I was dating I just knew that today was going to be amazing, it was sunny, no clouds, feeling like a million bucks, nothing could ruin this. I have finally been ok for once in my life I have a caring family, at least where I was living we planed on watching the new Transformers movie my dad was so excited. We finally reach school and there she was standing and waiting for me I was so happy to see her she was the girl for me (or so I thought at the time) she runs up and jumps into my arms feeling of empty hope. The day seems to drag and feeling so anxious to leave I just stood up and walked out grabbed the love of my life my skateboard and went to heaven A.K.A. The skate park. Walking down the hall now equipped with the only thing that has not let me down feeling invincible.

I get out the door and start down the side walk feeling like a free bird I skate across the street and its all empty feeling so specially like being V.I.P. I drop in and feel the overwhelming sensation of flying now the day is perfect can’t be any better. Bell rings time for lunch only running on half a tank so I need to get something to eat I sadly put away the love of my life in my dinky little locker. I get in line see that girl again so I go up by her and we kiss and we talk about what we doing tonight the rest of the day flew by so fast not really paying attention to anything just day dreaming. I head back to heaven and fly till my mom comes and I see my dad in the front seat I’m so excited I run and give him a hug and hop in the back seat like a little kid who sees his father after a long day at work.

We go to the doctors like a normal day he had to get his blood taken for dialysis and whatever else goes on for him its hard to see him so feeble he is supposed to be like Superman. His weathered face was so amazing to see but, at the same time it was so sad to see what he has done to himself. He was only 35 he really looked as if he was 50 though and he looked as though he just was not happy with himself. It crushed me he always told me to worry bout the partying later in life because I have so much talent so I needed to use it and make a life. To me he was preaching and I never listened I wish I would have, look where I’m at now.

So we head back to the house just a regular day I told all my friends to come over to kick it so that we could watch the Transformers movie. I was in my room with my friends Dominique, Xavier, Brody (my brother), I was on the computer being the room DJ. The song I chose was “Blowin Trees” By: Nappy Roots turned it up as high as the computer would; telling a story to my friends my dad walks in and says “hey I’m hopping the shower I LOVE YOU SON NEVER FORGET THAT”. I basically blew him off and said “ya I love you too” He says “I’ll be out in ten min. so we can watch our movie” “okay dad”. 5 min. go by and mom checks on him and he was slurring his words and his were rolling in the back of his head, she takes him out the bath and puts clothes on him. He says “just let me lay here come back in 10 min. I’m dizzy” “okay Kris”. Meanwhile the music is playing “broke with my girl last night so I went to the club put on a fresh white suit and mini coup sitting on dubs RORY!!!!” “yeah what’s up mom? “Help me your dad is too heavy he not really breathing!” As though someone has put an ice cube down my spine I get the worse chills I have ever had in my life. I run down the hall to my fragile father on the floor I said “Daddy please get up we got a movie come on” No reply. I pick him up his eyes rolled back I carry him to front room and lay his body on the oval rug on the floor. “CALL 911 NOW!!!” I scream at my mother she hands me the phone in sheer panic I dial as fast as I can I tell her where we are at what’s going on, she simply answers back “ Do CPR” “I don’t know it” “ I’ll guide you through it how may breathes does he take a min?” I count and its only a breathe every 27 seconds. As I cry on the phone this lady is totally treating me like I’m completely retarded. “Come on daddy” PUSH “please not now I need you” PUSH PUSH “how you doin kid?” “How do you think lady my dad is about to die!” “The ambulance is so close just 30 more seconds” PUSH tears streaming down my face “ Daddy NO please I’m here” finally the medics get there and push me out the way and say “ good job kid we got a pulse” An hour passes and my mother comes in tears running “he’s gone” my whole world was shattered so much for a good day.

So my point for anyone who may read this please appreciate anyone who may enter your life because they may not be there tomorrow. Anyone who gives you any advices good or bad take it in and become a better person and never let things get you down. Some stuff may set you back a little but never let it stop you, you will miss out on good stuff that was right in front of your face but you were too busy being down and out. Keep your head up and always look forward the past will set you back learn and move on. Thank you for taking time and reading my story J I LOVE YOU DADDY!

Rory

I get asked the question “What power would you have if you could have one?” I’m always kind of iffy on what I would really want to have! I think I would choose to make everyone happy, no matter what they were going through.

Everyday I come to school there’s at least one person that could be cheered up, but I don’t know what I could do to make everything better. I know that it’s really not my responsibility to make people happy and do everything I can, especially when it doesn’t have anything to do with me. But, it’s the kind of person that I am. I car for others, and I want them to be as happy as I am. I’m a very empathetic person. I feel the pain that others are feeling, most likely not as intense and exactly how they are feeling, or what they’re going through; however, it makes me feel so sad. Think of all the things I could do if I had this power. I could just simply go and talk with some of the leaders of the world, make them happy, make them understand that we don’t have to hate each other and go to war. We could have world peace. One person could change the world.

I’m afraid that all of this is just a fantasy though. There’s no way that we can have world peace. There’s always going to be one person that needs to have more control, power and money than they already have. We just need to fight and be the better people.

Rachel

Flight. If I could choose any talent or power automatically, I would choose to be able to fly. Think of all the places you could go whenever you wanted to, you could up and leave from school and nobody could catch you. If you felt like going to Jamaica, you could stop whatever your doing and head there without paying a ticket for a plane and you would also get to see all the amazing country you cover on your way to wherever you’re going. The reason I chose this talent is because I love traveling, I love seeing to cities, new country, and new people. If I had this talent I could travel to Alaska in the morning and go hiking the steep peaks and be back for home for dinner, another reason I would choose this talent is because I am impatient and driving long distances gets really boring really fast, don’t get me wrong I love road trips but imagine being able to go somewhere ten times faster and seeing the same stuff and being able to stop wherever you want. I have been in a plane once and I loved seeing everything from high up.

Nick P.

Speaking

If I could download any talent from a computer I think it would be great public speaking. I want to be able to speak to a crowd and make them believe what I tell them. I want them to be devoted to what I thought and willing to do anything to please me. I would want that power so I could make changes that I think and feel are necessary. I want this talent so I could have a position of power. Maybe not necessarily be the leader of a movement, but I could be its icon, champion, and voice.

I want to be remembered after I die. My words could live a thousand years even if I only live twenty years. They would be translated into a hundred different languages and a thousand dialects. People who have never seen my face could recite my feelings about government or God in their native tongue. I want to be able to compel humanity to make peace, or total war. I want to stir the masses into frenzy and cause the middle class to throw off their oppressors. I want to start a revolution. All this is within reach with my new power of persuasion, a microphone, and a keyboard.

Nick B.

I Wish

I would probably have the talent of knowing my therapy and being able to spit it out when I need to, but to also know I’m talking about. Also, to be able to get in the cracks of people that are putting up walls and trying to not work for anything or anyone. I could also be able to feel like I have a chance at getting out of my program. I believe that you have to be near perfect to get out. I’m not anywhere around being perfect, but I do work for it. I would be a lot closer to the end and then I could be with the people I hold in my heart and can’t talk to when I need them the most. “I need to CHANGE,” is what I have started to say instead of “I need out.” I see myself getting out in at least four month from now or more and I keep letting myself get off track because of my feelings for the girl I can’t be with or anything with.

Mark

SUPERPOWERS!

If I could have one superpower I would be invisible. If I was invisible I could like sneak into people’s house that I hate and play tricks on them. I would have to also be able to go through walls because then I could rob banks. Yeah, that would be amazing. I would be rich! I could do whatever I wanted! I could sneak into Disneyland and amusement parks. I also could just like steal clothes, just kidding. Okay maybe it wouldn’t be good for me to be invisible and go through walls because I don’t know how much good would come out of it. I could do well though. If there was anything I could do, something that my powers could help I would. I would also like to fly. If I could have all three wow! That would be my absolute dream! I really want to be a vampire because no they aren’t invisible or walk through walls they can pretty much fly, they super fast and super strong. Also they are gorgeous and so that would be amazing. I wish I could have all the powers I want. The only problem of that is that if I had all I want then others would too and that would not be good because then what is the use of super powers if everyone has them and knows ways around them?

-Kesha

Matrix Talent

I guess the talent I would have would be to have the social skills to blend in and make friends anywhere I go. You might ask why I would want such a simple talent, because I could just learn them right? The answer is because I grew up with an older generation so heard a lot about ‘back in the day’ that I didn’t really learn about the social skills of my generation. It may appear that there’s not a difference, but there is a big difference. What I look at as nice to people others see it as being walked all over. I see a big difference between what I was told and what I’ve seen.

If I could have learned this talent when I was ‘knee high to a grasshopper’ (younger), then I would not have felt so isolated - see I never really fit in with any crowds. I choose to feel isolated because I wasn’t good at sports, talking to people and stuff like that. I fit in more with teachers than the students. This is why I think that being put in the group home is not such a bad thing because I have learned so many social skills since I’ve been here. Also I love Summit because it has brought people into my life that has helped me with my social skills. Those are the reasons why I would want the talent of social skills.

James

Any talent on demand

So in the Matrix they can download any type of talent they want, that would be nice. Anything anytime hmm.. I think that I might choose to be able to fly or be indestructible, but eventually I think that all of these talents would become curses, don’t you think? But there is a way around it, to just download a new one I guess. But I really don’t know what I would choose if that happened to me. I think that I would choose to be able to have any power all in one how is that for critical thinking ha ha. Well first things first I would make it so I was invincible then get really good at some sport or something and become pro so then I would be rich then I could go from there. Then maybe I would probably make my self so that I can teleport that would be cool also so one second I’m in Japan and next to the Netherlands. But in the end I would probably just become a super hero or villain it could go either way just fighting crime or causing it I guess it would depend on my mood. Like super man or the joker so that is what I would do if I could have any power at any time.

Jake

I would want to be super smart. If I was smart then I could graduate from high school. I am going to be my real mom’s only kid to graduate. My brother Zach never graduated. If I was smart then I would help global warming. I think everyone should help out in some way. Just being you can actually help someone. I think I want to be a super hero, I think that would be way fun. I should be a “Scientist Super Hero.” Helping people is something that makes me happy. I think I should have Alex R help me save the world as Scientist Super Heroes. I think that we should have a super hero no matter what they do. I also think that everyone is a super hero. In a way everyone can help if they just put their minds to it.

Dani

Power




If I could have any power I wanted I really don’t think I would have a super power. What I would ask for is great wisdom. I think that with wisdom you can achieve your goals and do anything you want. What I really want to do out of this life is not to be some high and mighty person that has a lot of power. What I want is to help people. To try and better as many people lives as I possibly can. There are so many people in this world that have it hard and go through continuously hard times. What I really want is not to take them and just make there lives perfect but to teach them. To teach them how to achieve great things in this world and to get what you want out of this life, to get out of the muck and grime of their everyday lives. If there was one thing in this world I could do it would be to make sure there are no starving babies, no single mothers fighting to feed and cloth their children. If I could do one thing in this world it would be to help mankind as we know it, to give everyone the power to have a good life. For me one of the hardest things is seeing all the people that have dreams and don’t know how to achieve those dreams. If I had great wisdom I would have the answer to everyone’s problems. I would be able to help out this world and that is the goal of my life, to help others, to help as many people as I can in this world. If I could have the words to inspire anyone and everyone than nothing else would matter to me. I would be so completely happy that I wouldn’t have a care in the world. My goal in life is to come closer to this goal everyday. To eventually be able to help anyone that comes across my path.

alex

Narrative Rough Draft

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I glance over and see its 6:30 I sluggishly drag myself out of bed “it’s too early”. I walk to the shower and turn on the shiny silver handles and I close the curtain a sensation of warm water overtakes my body. I say to myself “today is going to be a good day”. I hop out and get dressed I throw on my black SLIPKNOT shirt and put on my black pants and slide right into my size 13 black ADIO’s. My mom says “let’s go you have to go early today because I have to go in early the rest of this week”. So we go out the door I jump in the silver Grand Prix labeled Yankees. As we drive to my school I couldn’t wait to see the girl I was dating I just knew that today was going to be amazing, it was sunny, no clouds, feeling like a million bucks, nothing could ruin this. I have finally been ok for once in my life I have a caring family, at least where I was living we planed on watching the new Transformers movie my dad was so excited. We finally reach school and there she was standing and waiting for me I was so happy to see her she was the girl for me (or so I thought at the time) she runs up and jumps into my arms feeling of empty hope. The day seems to drag and feeling so anxious to leave I just stood up and walked out grabbed the love of my life my skateboard and went to heaven A.K.A. The skate park. Walking down the hall now equipped with the only thing that has not let me down feeling invincible. I get out the door and start down the side walk feeling like a free bird I skate across the street and its all empty feeling so specially like being V.I.P. I drop in and feel the overwhelming sensation of flying now the day is perfect can’t be any better. Bell rings time for lunch only running on half a tank so I need to get something to eat I sadly put away the love of my life in my dinky little locker. I get in line see that girl again so I go up by her and we kiss and we talk about what we doing tonight the rest of the day flew by so fast not really paying attention to anything just day dreaming. I head back to heaven and fly till my mom comes and I see my dad in the front seat I’m so excited I run and give him a hug and hop in the back seat like a little kid who sees his father after a long day at work. We go to the doctors like a normal day he had to get his blood taken for dialysis and whatever else goes on for him its hard to see him so feeble he is supposed to be like Superman. His weathered face was so amazing to see but, at the same time it was so sad to see what he has done to himself. He was only 35 he really looked as if he was 50 though and he looked as though he just was not happy with himself. It crushed me he always told me to worry bout the partying later in life because I have so much talent so I needed to use it and make a life. To me he was preaching and I never listened I wish I would have, look where I’m at now. So we head back to the house just a regular day I told all my friends to come over to kick it so that we could watch the Transformers movie. I was in my room with my friends Dominique, Xavier, Brody (my brother), I was on the computer being the room DJ. The song I chose was “Blowin Trees” By: Nappy Roots turned it up as high as the computer would; telling a story to my friends my dad walks in and says “hey I’m hopping the shower I LOVE YOU SON NEVER FORGET THAT”. I basically blew him off and said “ya I love you too” He says “I’ll be out in ten min. so we can watch our movie” “okay dad”. 5 min. go by and mom checks on him and he was slurring his words and his were rolling in the back of his head, she takes him out the bath and puts clothes on him. He says “just let me lay here come back in 10 min. I’m dizzy” “okay Kris”. Meanwhile the music is playing “broke with my girl last night so I went to the club put on a fresh white suit and mini coup sitting on dubs RORY!!!!” “yeah what’s up mom? “Help me your dad is too heavy he not really breathing!” As though someone has put an ice cube down my spine I get the worse chills I have ever had in my life. I run down the hall to my fragile father on the floor I said “Daddy please get up we got a movie come on” No reply. I pick him up his eyes rolled back I carry him to front room and lay his body on the oval rug on the floor. “CALL 911 NOW!!!” I scream at my mother she hands me the phone in sheer panic I dial as fast as I can I tell her where we are at what’s going on, she simply answers back “ Do CPR” “I don’t know it” “ I’ll guide you through it how may breathes does he take a min?” I count and its only a breathe every 27 seconds. As I cry on the phone this lady is totally treating me like I’m completely retarded. “Come on daddy” PUSH “please not now I need you” PUSH PUSH “how you doin kid?” “How do you think lady my dad is about to die!” “The ambulance is so close just 30 more seconds” PUSH tears streaming down my face “ Daddy NO please I’m here” finally the medics get there and push me out the way and say “ good job kid we got a pulse” An hour passes and my mother comes in tears running “he’s gone” my whole world was shattered so much for a good day.

Rory