7 - Hailey M; A Myth

 A Myth

The saying, “Everything happens for a reason,” is a popular quote that many people say to someone when they have gone through something bad, or had a bad day. I feel like this statement is just a pity sentence, and it doesn’t have any type of real meaning. I don’t believe that your life is already chosen for you, I like to think that we are choosing what we do, and doing so for our own reasons. 

There are various people in this world, ones who have been through horrible experiences that they may never get over. By telling them that “everything happens for a reason, you’ll get through it,” it would feel like they are saying you needed to go through something traumatic to grow from it and have a better life. This is untrue in so many ways. For example, if somebody was in an abusive relationship, and the partner was physically and mentally abused from this relationship, would you think to tell them that it happened for a reason, and they’ll get through it? It sounds completely inconsiderate of what they went through. It may even lead the person to think they deserved that treatment, when they obviously did not, and there are just terrible people in our world. 

Many people use the saying as a positive reaction for when something bad happens to them or someone else, and I believe it is a false phrase that has no real meaning, and doesn’t help a situation in any way at all.

Word Count: 254

7: Yasmin G: Our Book is Written

 Everything happens for a reason. It sounds like an annoying thing your mom says to you when your high school boyfriend breaks up with you when you thought he was the love of your life after 2 months, but, if your mom has said this, she has a point. 

          I have this belief that somehow, somewhere, there is a library of books, where everyone has their life written. No changes can be made, no decisions can be determined. Everything is already written but it's hidden from us and everyone around us.

         With this belief, it forces the meaning that everything happens for a reason. Your book is written with whatever bad things happen that you thought meant your life was over. It was meant to pan out that way. 

         And that comes with the good things too, that seem bad at the time. My parents divorced when I was very young, and I thought I would grow up with packing my bags every Friday to spend the weekend with my dad, a constant battle for child support and custody. But I soon realized my dad was not the best person, and separating him and my mom was the best thing that could have happened.

         Every little thing happens for a reason. The butterfly effect is a very real thing that differentiates every decision we make, even if it doesn't seem like it. Maybe you picked to eat pancakes instead of waffles for breakfast this morning, and you left 3 minutes later than you normally do for school. That could change so much in your life, and you wouldn't even know. 

         Our stories are all written for us, so don't worry about the little high school things that you think can ruin your life- they won't. Everything happens, and it happens for a reason. Maybe you won't figure out today, or tomorrow, or next week or month or year, but you'll find out.

WORD COUNT: 322

7 - Zack R - Plastic Easter Eggs

I search for Easter eggs without knowing what I’ll find. I look in every corner and hidden spot, and get excited when I spot the bright color of an egg. I get to it as soon as possible so that no one else can. Then my heart filled with excitement, I open it. I hope for the best reward inside but have no way of knowing for sure until I open it all the way. As the lid falls back I’m filled with disappointment. A tootsie roll. I put the egg in my basket and my eye catches the bright red color of the next egg. I run over and pull it from its hiding spot. Thinking back to my tootsie roll I hope for a better reward inside this time. The egg cracks open and this time a starburst falls out. Although it’s better than my first prize it’s still not what I’m searching for. I put it alongside the other egg in my basket and return to my hunt. I go a minute or so without spotting any bright eggs waiting for me and at this point I get doubtful. Maybe there is no perfect egg. Or at least not one for me. Maybe everyone else got them and there isn’t any more left hidden. At this moment I finally see it. The blue oval figure staring back at me. I walk to it and pick it up. Almost immediately a feeling of accomplishment hits me. It must be the one. I hold my breath and squeeze the soft plastic egg slowly and feel the two pieces separate. I’m afraid to look. I muster the courage and open my eyes. I see the folded paper inside. The 5 dollars almost glows inside the bottom of the egg. I’ve finally found the egg I’ve wanted. And I no longer have any desire for any other eggs because I know no matter what, there is nothing out there that will ever be better than what I have with me now. All I had to do was wait I search for love without knowing what i’ll find. I look in every corner and hidden spot, and get excited when I find the warmth of love. I try to get to it as soon as possible so that no one else can. Then I open my heart, filled with excitement. I hope for the best possible reward but have no way of knowing for sure until I’ve completely opened myself to it. As I try to fall into love I’m filled with disappointment. They cheat. They aren’t the one for me. As I move on from this I feel it again. The warmth of love. I rush to it and try to build with them. I think back to my last try and hope for a better outcome this time. My heart opens this time it works. I start to build with them but it doesn’t go any farther. It just isn’t what I’m looking for. It was better than before but not what I’m looking for. I move on again. I go a while without feeling any love waiting for me and I get doubtful. Maybe there is no perfect love. Or at least not for me. Maybe everyone else found it all. At this moment I see it. I feel more than just warmth. I feel love. They must be the one. I open up slowly this time. I’m afraid this time will be just like the rest. But I keep opening and connecting. I found it. The love I’ve been waiting for. I don’t need to look anymore because this is what I have wanted. Nothing could be better than this. 622

7 - Abhishek Sahota: From Mentor and Student to Equals

   

    For as long as I can remember I have viewed both of my parents in very much the same way: with a fearful respect and naive sense of admiration. Don’t get me wrong I still respect my parents and admire them in a lot of ways, but it comes from a different place as I have gotten older.

    I have learned a lot more about the personalities of my parents. My understanding of them as people has become more nuanced.

    My mom is someone who tends to be more sensitive to alterations in her environment. My mom is change-averse in a lot of ways. She likes things to be done in the way she learned or seems the best to her. This has been the cause of many disagreements between my mom and I. 

    My dad on the hand is much more adaptable, I would say. Take for example our various discussions. 

    Initially, he would probably disagree with me on certain things, usually taking the side of my mom. However, I find that I am often able to reason with him and come to some type of common ground by the end of the conversation.

    Being set in their ways is the way my parents differ the most, though even in that aspect it is somewhat marginal. Other than that significant personality difference they are mostly similar. This may be a result of them being married for so long and having their personalities kind of rub off on each other.

    As you grow older, seeing your parents as a guardian archetype begins to fade and you begin to see them as humans like yourself. You realize that all while you were growing up they were struggling just as much as you are now. The way in which your relationship changes with your parents as you get older is something that is not discussed often. I hope this gave some insights.

7-Aaron P: Gratitude

 

In the spring of 2017 my life changed. As my step dad fought for his life at the local hospital the connection between gratitude and the inevitable human mortality marked me for life.

It all started with my step dad having acute headaches, more and more often. Consequently he was taken to this hospital and the neurologist ordered a CT scan on him. After locating a cist in his brain the room went silent. No one knew what to say or how to act. 

All we knew at the time was that it needed to be surgically removed and the risks that come with having a brain surgery were  extremely life threatening. The doctor said that he could die or experience serious repercussions if something went wrong while executing the surgery.

Thankfully after several procedures done by the doctors, they safely extracted  the cist from his brain. 

Two years later, my step dad is healthier than ever and not only works, but goes to the gym and even plays soccer on his free time. 

If it wasn’t for this experience, none of us would be able to truly value life. Seeing him in the hospital with half his head shaven was not easy, but it served as a lesson to appreciate each moment we get with him.

Now every time we go out and look at him we remember all those times when he would complain about his headaches and we thank God for letting him be with us still. 

7 - Em Lin - Everything doesn't happen because of a reason

    Everything happens for a reason has been a saying that I’ve never believed in. I believe that humans have a hard time accepting that sometimes, bad things happen because they just do. Sayings like this to keep yourself positive is just delusional. Bad things happen because there are bad people in the world, there are bad ideas that spread around the world, and there are as many good things as there are bad. Whenever someone goes through something traumatic, they’re told that everything happens for a reason and it’ll get better, but that’s just false hope. That kid didn’t get abused for a reason, that girl didn’t get raped for a reason, that man didn’t get killed for a reason. They were abused, raped, and killed because there are bad people in the world, and those people do bad things.

Why do we always have to act like everything will turn out fine after a traumatic event. Can’t we just acknowledge that what happened was indeed bad, and it might get better, but no, you didn’t deserve to go through that, you didn’t have go through that because “everything happens for a reason”. The false hope that creates can even be worse than the original traumatic event. The kid’s mom who ignores the abuse happening to her own child because she loves her husband more, the girl who believed that her friends and family would be on her side, only to realize that they don’t even believe her in the first place, and the man’s family that has to watch his killer go free cause he was rich enough to buy off the judges. Bad things happen because of bad people, not for a magical reason, just because bad people exist do these things happen.

Word count: 295

7-In Which Paper Burns-Jacob Penrose

                       In Which Paper Burns

Literary Analysis - choose any book you’ve read.  What is the author’s point/message and how do you know this?

A book that I have read was Ray Bradbury’s, Fahrenheit 451. This is a dystopian book that takes place in a fictional setting where the U.S. government has banned many pieces of literature and marked them for incineration through the use of “firemen” in an attempt to maintain the happiness and conformity of society. 

The constant message that Ray Bradbury tries to convey throughout the book is that knowledge and understanding who you actually are can easily be toppled by technological  tools designed to distract everyone from our world’s realities.

 This message is evident when the main character, Montag, is forced to examine who he is in reality and if the laws on books are not actually justified, despite his current line of work as a fireman acts in contrast to what he is beginning to believe. 

In order to further convey his message, the author also uses Beatty, Montag’s boss as well as the book’s antagonist, as a counterweight to Montag’s beliefs. 

This is because Beatty is meant to force the main character into questioning if they are certain that the restrictions on books  are unjustifiable and if Montag is fully willing to go against the laws that the U.S. government has instilled. 

This is meant to create a dilemma for Montag because it presents two options for him, either he continues his life as a fireman and acts as a law-abiding citizen or he can rebel against a system in which he is beginning to see as a power that is trying to make society more compliant.

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7- My Oddly Chosen Joy- Peyton Miller

 

Ideally, most people´s joy comes from being around family and friends or even a significant other or on a saturday night watching football with their loved ones. Me on the other hand though, my joy comes from a whole different place. 

Joy for me doesn´t come as naturally and definitely not as easy as it seems everyone else´s does. My joy comes from always being out and about. My joy comes from doing the most with nothing. 

On the outside I don´t seem as simple as I really am. I can be so content with just sitting inside and joking around with a friend or even just staring at a wall. Seriously. I am one of those people, especially now that I have my license and a lot more freedom, who loves the adrenaline of adventure as well. 

My cousin and I, who grew up doing everything together from hating each other to loving how much we have in common, both grew up driving up and down these really special and significant backroads that we know like the back of our hands. Every which way we go, we know exactly where we are and where it leads. That right there brings me joy just thinking about it. But most of all, I love that I get to feel free when Im in the places I love. 

I was also one of those weird kids who was content with playing with a stick outside or building a fort out of a bush. Yes, a bush, not a tree. And roaming the creekside directly in front of my house, to this day. I love the smell of outside, that smell of dead grass in an open field or even the smell of rain on a wet pavement that you could just lay down in and get soaked for no reason.

As weird as it sounds, those are the little things that bring so much joy to my life. The weird but very significant memories that no one but myself would understand bring me joy. I love outside, I love being able to be my weird, unhinged self whether it be on my own or with my cousin who shares the same odd characteristics as me. But whether it be sitting in a room doing absolutely nothing, or going on the exact same adventure and paths as I did since 5 years old, it will never cease to bring so much pure joy into my life. And im content with that.

7 - Cecylia B: Everyone is different

My parents are two very different people. If I’m being honest I don’t even know how they managed to have a relationship but they did, and they had me. I can see how I’ve gotten some traits from both my mom and dad, whether it be facial features or personality traits. My family members always tell me “you look like your dad when he was younger” and it really gets annoying after a while. Like what teenage girl wants to be told she looks like her dad? It's not just family bias either. I will show people a picture of me and my dad and they're like “omg you look so much like your dad!”, I’m like gee thanks. My mom is naturally pretty, she has dark hair, hazel eyes, and all around looks absolutely nothing like me. One time my mom got pulled over because her blinker was out and I was in the car. I was much younger at the time, maybe 5 or 6 and they started to ask my mom questions and asked her if I was actually her child. My mom was shocked and obviously said “yes of course” but they continued to ask me if I was okay and if she was really my mom. I just sat there like “yes why wouldn't she be?'' That just goes to show we don’t look alike. One thing I did adopt from her though is some of her personality traits. She likes to keep things clean and organized and so do I. My dad on the other hand is the other way around. He cannot keep anything remotely clean even if it was to save his life so you can assume that I’m the one that does the cleaning around the house. Me and my mom both have the same kind of humor so when we are together we bounce off of eachother and end up laughing at things for hours. Sometimes we even bring up old things and just laugh about whatever it is, whether it be that one time I accidentally snorted milk up my nose while eating cereal or the time she went to get the vaccine and the nurse didn't even put the bandaid on the injection site. Although I do have some things in common with my dad. He’s a very laid back and chill person. I would say the same about myself. We both don’t like going out or being social, we just like staying in and being by ourselves. My mom on the other hand is completely different. She's more of a social butterfly and likes to go out with friends. I would say me and my dad are more like hermit crabs rather than social butterflies. One thing I want to make clear is that even though you may have similar features or personality traits as your parents doesn’t mean you are the same person. Everyone is different and is their own person. Word count: 495

7 - Mel B - Everything Happens For A Reason

               Everything Happens For A Reason 

I'm in between of the whole "everything happens for a reason" phrase. It's hard to be on either side because I can come up with a pretty good argument for both sides but at the end of the day and all the arguments later I will still never be 100% for either side. Yes, "everything happens for a reason" is good because good or bad there will be lessons learned that help you out in buisness, relationships them being romantic or platonic, or real world situations. These lessons will help you learn from the past and help you apply these in your new life and new situations so you don't repeat the same mistakes over and over again or use the good over again and pass on the opportunities. People whisper this phrase to themselves whenever any situation happens to them good or bad but have you ever heard them explain that reason? like Why did it happen to you? and What truly is the reason? It's a question that no one ever has the answer to, and I wonder why. Some people can argue and even me that "everything happens for a reason" some people don't agree with this response because it can be seen as senseless and tragic. Some things that happened are messed up and should have never happened and hearing that it happened for a reason would be more damaging than the actual incident. When you think about certain people you have experienced in your life you hate yourself for allowing them to treat you the way they did. Yeah everything happens for a reason but there's so much that could've been avoided if only they knew how to handle it or if they if they knew what they know now. That's the beauty of it; it could be a blessing or lesson that's why I'm in the middle because it is true, you either learn from the mistake and use that pain to help you in the future or it happens and you use the good and continue to spread it. 

7- Genecis Z.: Joy Seeker

     Everyone is on their own pursuit of happiness, but somewhere throughout the chase your motivation starts to falter and you reach upon a stop called joy. Joy is not happiness, they share similar qualities but to be happy is to be content and joy is short to that. 

Therefore when someone is described as joyful, it doesn’t mean that they roam the earth with a permanent smile plastered on their face. They too experience the raging storms of sadness, anger, and fear. 

Joy is the pit stop to happiness, problem is that most times people will stop at joy and never reach happiness. Because they are tired.  

The road to happiness isn’t a straightforward highway where all you have to do is walk in a straight line to the finish line. It is huge mountains, rocky bridges, and ruthless oceans. 

Which is why joy is so much easier. 

Joy is like a free sample of happiness, a 30 day free trial if you will. You feel the joy in the moment, you relish in it, but once it’s there it is gone just as fast. 

It’s like an addicting substance.

And although joy is easier to find than happiness it isn’t much easier to keep. You will find joy in many moments but it won’t be a constant thing which is why you seek for it in everything or anyone. 

I am a joy seeker, I got lost on my chase to happiness, and joy found me. I don’t always feel joy, if anything I have rarely been lucky enough to be bestowed with it. But when I do, it reaches my core and spreads within my entire self. From the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes. It is a euphoric sensation that I would give anything to feel over and over again. 

The sound of my laugh when I am joyful is music to my ears. I have never heard such a purer song than a true laugh from me. Each pitch of my laugh fills my eardrums with warmth and serenity. 

Sadly the song of my laugh is short and rare, but I will always chase happiness and get lost in the feelings of joy. 

Word count: 371

7-Destiny D: Young Teachers

Older generations are known for being the most closed minded people that often stick to their outdated ways. Showing an older person ways of life that have changed, or teaching them things is not an easy task. 

Younger generations have made it increasingly easier to get into older generations' minds, and teach them new things. This is often accomplished through families, because grandparents love their grandchildren and want to be their best for them. 

However, making these changes isn’t always easy for them. With age also comes a decreasing amount of the ability to comprehend situations. 

The recent advances in technology have proven to be difficult for older generations to learn to use. It is something that they have never seen before, and without someone to help them they may never get a chance to experience it correctly.

Younger generations are the perfect teachers for this task because they have been raised in the age of technology. Grandparents are happy to learn new ways that they can communicate with family and friends, as well as share their older experiences with the world. 

In a more personal aspect, older generations can learn to be increasingly adaptive from the younger generations. When time passes things undoubtedly change, and it isn’t easy to adapt to change once you get into a routine. 

The closed mindedness that comes with age makes it difficult for older generations to see that their ways are outdated. Letting younger generations teach them new things is ultimately showing them that they can adapt. 

Word Count: 254

7 Eliya: I'm alive by the sound of music

I’m alive by the sound of music 

Music has always played an important role in my life. To me, music is the way to express yourself, without using words. When I think about this topic, it brings me back to my sixteenth birthday, the day that I got my first guitar. This guitar is special to me because of how rare it is, a Yamaha g240, made with extinct wood and created around my birthday. Being in quarantine, I learned a lot when it came to guitar, how when you play very light, it can evoke some emotion in people, how different chords can have different feelings, like how the D chord can make a person feel a bit more happy, how an e minor chord makes a song have power. 

Music can determine the way that people see the world too. A person who listens to more down, saddening music can see the world for what's wrong with it. However, listening to uplifting music can completely change someone's view on the world. Music is also good depending on the environment that you are in, for example, when i was in Washington for the summer, living in the forest most of the time, i mostly listened to acoustic, folk music. Another thing that music helps with is doing homework. Over the years, I have found out that I can focus better when music is on, rather than working in complete silence.

Music can also tell you a lot about someone, about what they like, what they used to like, what their favorite genre is, etc. Lastly, music can help you cope with something. Currently, music is helping me with the passing of my grandpa. It helps me because it's something that I can relate to, something that listens in a way. It makes you kind of feel like everything will be ok, and sometimes they don't even need to say anything.

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